§ Mr. Mulleyasked the Minister of Health what regulations he has made with regard to the arrangements to be made by hospitals when transferring patients from one hospital to another and when a seriously ill or incapacitated patient goes to or from hospital; if he will take steps through the regional boards to bring these arrangements to the notice of all hospitals and to secure their implementation; and if he will make a statement on the circumstances which prevented the making of proper arrangements for the transit of Kenneth Handley from Sheffield City General Hospital to Uxbridge recently.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithIt is for individual hospitals to make whatever individual arrangements are necessary in each case, and I do not think it would be appropriate to make general regulations on the subject. As has been explained to the hon. Member, the difficulties experienced over the transfer of Kenneth Handley from the City General Hospital, Sheffield, to Harefield Hospital were due to a failure to bring into operation the usual procedure for such transfers, which has worked well in other cases. The Sheffield hospital authorities have overhauled their administrative arrangements in order to prevent any repetition of such an occurrence.