§ Sir CYRIL COBBasked the Secretary of State for War whether he can indicate at what date the three London county mental hospitals at Epsom, which the London County Council has voluntarily placed at the disposal of the War Department for use as war hospitals, namely, the Horton Hospital, the Manor Hospital, and the Ewell Colony, will be returned to the council for renewed use for the accommodation of civilian mental cases, for which they are seriously needed; whether he will take steps to secure that these hospitals are demobilised and restored to the council at the earliest possible moment; and whether he can indicate at what date the Maudsley Hospital buildings at Denmark Hill, which were taken over from the London County Council by the War Department at the commencement of the War and are now being used as a neurological clearing hospital, will be returned to the council for use for the purpose for which the buildings were designed?
Captain GUESTThe Manor Hospital will be closed from the 15th March next. Every effort is being made to close the other hospitals as early as possible, but it has to be remembered that sick are still being returned from France at the rate of 1,000 a day, and a very large number require special treatment. As regards the Maudsley Hospital buildings, this hospital is a neurological centre, and a busy one, and so far it has been difficult to reduce its activity. Efforts are, however, being made to find another hospital into which the whole centre can be moved, and it is hoped that it will be possible to do this and to close the Maudsley Hospital at an early date.