§ 11.10 a.m.
§ Lord AUCKLANDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government how many serious and fatal accidents have been caused to patients in mental hospitals owing to scalding during the past five years, and whether they are satisfied that all reasonable precautions are taken to avoid such tragedies.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I regret that this information is not available centrally. Staff in mental hospitals are well aware of the dangers and the need for care in bathing patients; and the nurse-training arrangements include instruction in this matter.
§ Lord AUCKLANDMy Lords, may I first thank the noble Lord for that Answer and for having granted me an interview before the House sat. In paying a tribute to all the staff in these hospitals, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware of a recent tragedy of scalding in a hospital in Epsom, on whose house committee I served for several years? Can the noble Lord say whether taps in the bathrooms of these hospitals are fitted with safety valves in order to decrease the risk of scalding, since this is the source of most of the accidents? Can he also say whether instructions have gone out to Area Health Authorities to ensure that radiators are protected with grills?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I am afraid I cannot tell the noble Lord of the safety measures in existence in the Epsom Hospital which he mentions. It is clear that the Department of Health and all the devoted people who are working to care for these very handicapped people are aware of the dangers from every kind of heater device, from boiling water to radiators. I cannot give him exact details, but I will write to him and give him the information for which he has asked.
§ Lord AUCKLANDMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for the answer he has given, which is satisfactory so far as it goes, may I put one further 1792 question to him? Bearing in mind that a coroner's appears to have taken place into the tragedy to which I have referred, can the noble Lord make inquiries of the Department concerned as to why, when coroners' inquests are held, and bearing in mind that the local and national Press naturally take an interest in these matters, central figures are not available?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMYes, my Lords; I will bring the attention of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State to this apparent gap in the information available to us. I should have thought that a coroner's inquest was sufficiently important for the information to be recorded centrally and for it to be available.