HL Deb 04 November 1969 vol 305 cc331-2WA
LORD O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made with a system for inspecting mental hospitals.

BARONESS SEROTA

My right honourable friends the Secretary of State for Social Services and the Secretary of State for Wales have appointed Dr. Alex Baker, M.D., D.P.M., to be Director of the new National Health Service Hospital Advisory Service. Dr. Baker took up his appointment on November 1, 1969. The Service is not an Inspectorate; it will help hospitals by giving advice and reporting to the Secretary of State on standards of hospital care, initially in long-stay hospitals.