§ Sir R. THOMASasked the Minister of Pensions what is the reason why wounded ex-soldiers who are still receiving hospital treatment are kept in hospitals which are located far from their homes; and whether he will consider the desirability of transferring at least a considerable number of such cases to hospitals as near their homes as possible?
2139W
§ Major TRYONIt is the policy of the Ministry to provide treatment, wherever it can suitably be arranged, as near as possible to the man's home. A large proportion of the cases, however, are of varied types of disease or injury requiring special modes of treatment which are not always available in the patient's immediate neighbourhood. For these cases it has necessarily been impracticable to provide more than a limited number of special hospitals, compatibly with the standard of accommodation, equipment and staff necessary for their economical working and the interests of efficient treatment.