§ Lord ABERDAREasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether their hospital building programme includes the provision of community hospitals.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLYes. A guidance circular and memorandum, issued to health authorities in August 1974 described the concept of the community hospital and asked them to take the guidance into account when planning the development of the integrated health services. It is expected that the great majority of community hospitals will be produced by the adaptation and upgrading of existing local hospitals. As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services and my right honourable and learned friend the Secretary of State for Wales explained in the foreword to the memorandum, it will be some time before Health Authorities as a whole will be able to say where community hospitals are planned to be sited and which existing local hospitals are suitable for adaptation for this purpose. But it is intended that some community hospitals shall be provided early in the programme.
House adjourned at twenty-six minutes before eight o'clock.