§ 90. Mr. Abseasked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that Wales has less beds per 1,000 population for the mentally subnormal than any other region; that the proposed hospital plan 64W fails to give parity in the number of such beds with other regions; and if he will take steps to revise the present plan in order to end overcrowding in the Welsh hospitals for the subnormal.
§ Mr. PowellThe Answer to the first part of the Question is "No"; in answer to the remainder I would refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 18, 49 and 52 of Command Paper 1604.
§ 91. Mr. Abseasked the Minister of Health whether he will so amend the hospital plan which provides for the cutting down of hospital beds in Wales for the mentally sick from 8,739 to 4,590 until a chair and department of psychiatry is established at the Medical College of the University of Wales, and the aftercare service in Wales for the mentally sick is fully manned, to avoid any diminution in the treatment available at present for the mentally sick.
§ Mr. PowellNo.
§ 92. Mr. Watkinsasked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the cost, he will consider publishing a separate Command Paper giving the preface, and the first 14 pages of Command Paper No. 1604, A Hospital Plan for England and Wales, together with The Hospital Programme for Wales, as contained in Appendix A of the same publication, so that small local authorities and other bodies may buy sufficient copies for distribution to their members.
§ Mr. PowellI am informed that Her Majesty's Stationery Office will quote a price for a specific order for off-prints of Command Paper 1604 omitting all but one or more specified sections of Appendix A.