§ Mrs. Castleasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies in how many cases fees charged to out-patients and in-patients, respectively, in Government institutions in Kenya have been waived on grounds of hardship; and how many African patients have received treatment since the charges were introduced, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.
§ Mr. Profumo,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 14th November, 1957; Vol. 577, c. 1118–9], supplied the following information:
From 1st January, 1957, to 6th December, 1957, fees were waived for 2,455 out-patients and 1,693 in-patients. These figures exclude those entitled to free medical treatment. At those hospitals where fees have been charged, the numbers of Africans treated in the same period were 302,505 out-patients and 30,017 in-patients. As fee-paying has been introduced in successive stages and is not yet the rule in all hospitals, and as annual attendance figures only are available for 1956, no direct comparisons can yet be made between the two years.