§ 31. Dame Joan Vickersasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what provisions are being made to prevent deterioration of the local authority health services over the period from now to April, 1974, in view of the danger of diminishing interest and expenditure by local authorities and the fact that experienced administrative staff are transferring to other local authority departments and that the medical and nursing staff are anxious about their future.
§ Sir K. JosephI would draw my hon. Friend's attention to what is said in paragraphs 188–191 of last week's White Paper on National Health Service Reorganisation: England, Cmnd. 5055. I have seen little evidence to suggest any diminution in the development of the local health services. Indeed, in some respects, notably in numbers of nursing staffs in post, 1971 showed an unprecedented rate of expansion. I fully understand the concern expressed by some staffs but the proposed arrangements for a National Health Service Staff Commission, set out in paragraph 198 of the White Paper, and the proposed training for reorganisation, paragraph 197, will, I hope, go some way to reassure staffs about their future.