§ Mr. J. DAVISONasked the Minister of Health what measures will he taken to secure that the friends, as distinct from relatives, of mental patients are made acquainted with their rights under Section 79 of the Lunacy Act, in accordance with the recommendation to post up this Section as given by the Cobbe Committee set up by his Department, seeing that the method adopted of circularising committees and relatives leaves the friends quite out of the question and has the effect of keeping them in intentional ignorance of their rights under the Act?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Pontypool (Mr. T. Griffiths) on the 12th March last.
§ Mr. RITSONasked the Minister of Health if he will instruct the Board of Control, in order to avoid the risk of any mental patient being deprived of his rights of appeal to a magistrate, to make a rule that in every case where no prejudicial certificate has been sent up to them a paper must be procured from the patient stating whether he desires or declines to make the use of that right; and will he obtain particulars from the Board of the number of instances in which they have instituted prosecutions for the admitted offence described in Section 8 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, as a misdemeanour?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINIt would not be practicable to make such a general rule as the hon. Member proposes, but the Board of Control have drawn the attention of the authorities of all institutions receiving private patients ot the requirements of Section 8 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, and have suggested to them the desirability of requesting patients, to whom a notice under Sub-section (2) of the Section has been given, to acknow- 1511W ledge its receipt in writing. They have further advised that if the signature of any such patient be unobtainable, the notice shall be endorsed to that effect. No instances have occurred in which the Board have thought it necessary to institute a prosecution for an offence under this Section.