§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will take steps to ensure that an early meeting 441W of the nurses' Whitley Council will consider meals charges ;
(2) if he will put a ban on all increased charges for nurses' meals consumed in hospitals until such time as the matter has been agreed by the Whitley Council ;
(3) if he will revise his instructions to hospitals which make it necessary to raise charges for meals of nurses to keep pace with the rises taking place in food costs and overhead services.
§ Sir K. JosephI understand that the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council will be having an early discussion of meal charges. Its agreements provide for nurses to pay meals charges determined centrally for standard meals and locally for other meals. The charges for the standard meals are those negotiated periodically in the Ancillary Staffs Council ; these meals are available to hospital staff generally, the present charge for a main meal being 18½p plus l½p VAT I see no reason to change the arrangements
TABLE A—CAPITAL EXPENDITURE £000 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 Birchlands Jewish … — — — — 4 Bolingbroke … — — 11 28 11 Putney … — — — 3 20 Queen Mary's, Roehampton … 77 124 145 63 180 Rame Home … — — — — — St. Benedict's … — — — 43 66 St. George's, Tooting* … 362 281 822 384 534 St. James' … 40 56 32 24 59 St. John's … — — 3 7 62 Tooting Bec … 14 2 29 29 15 Westmoor … — — — — — * Includes expenditure on the new St. George's Hospital.
TABLE B—REVENUE EXPENDITURE £000 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 Birchlands Jewish … 50 54 66 75 86 Bolingbroke … 386 413 499 556 636 Putney … 300 341 386 * * Queen Mary's. Roehampton … 1,425 1,896 2,265 2.574 2,863 Rame Home … 20 21 23 23 23 St. Benedict's … 394 404 469 531 628 St. George's, Tooting† … 1,969 2,172 2,567 2,982 3,536 St. James' … 1,650 1,812 2,139 2,431 2,830 St. John's … 485 496 580 607 713 Tooting Bec … 1,363 1,530 1,720 2,100 2,288 Westmoor … 16 16 22 24 * * Expenditure included in the Queen Mary's, Roehampton figures. † Estimated figures. The Hyde Park Corner and Tooting Branches of St. George's Hospital are treated as a co-ordinated unit for patient and other services. The figures represent the proportion of services provided at the Tooting branch.