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Tuberculosis

Volume 390: debated on Thursday 3 June 1943

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England And Wales

Number of patients on Waiting List, at 31st March, 1943, who had been waiting for a bed for more than 10 days.

PulmonaryNon Pulmonary
Bedfordshire1511
Berkshire91
Reading5
Total141
Buckinghamshire122
Cambridgeshire131
Cheshire3311
Birkenhead62
Total3913
Cornwall16
Cumberland313
Derbyshire2531
Devon41
Exeter3
Plymouth2
Total433
Dorset6
Durham10712
Gateshead252
Sunderland6
West Hartlepool31
Total14115
Isle of Ely21

PulmonaryNon Pulmonary
Gloucestershire Joint Board
Board449
Bristol205
Total6414
Herefordshire8
Hertfordshire172
Huntingdonshire5
Kent1046
Canterbury6
Total1106
Lancashire6030
Barrow-in-Furness2
Blackburn3
Blackpool221
Bootle2
Burnley3
Liverpool1114
Manchester416
Oldham61
Preston5
Salford15
Southport15
Wigan91
Total28048
Leicestershire22
Leicester3210
Total3412
Lincs. Kesteven91
Lincs. Lindsey123
London131
Essex9127
East Ham32
Southend-on-Sea3
West Ham3
Total10029
Norfolk
Norwich11
Total11
Northants2
Northumberland
Newcastle-on-Tyne152
Total152
Nottinghamshire11
Nottingham76
Total87
Oxfordshire194

PulmonaryNon-Pulmonary
Shrophsire9
Somerset173
Bath6
Total233
Hants1110
Bournemouth1
Portsmouth1011
Southampton17
Total3921
Staffordshire
Wolverhampton and Dudley Joint Board616
Stoke-on-Trent20
Total816
East Suffolk1
Ipswich2
Total3
East Suffolk1
Ipswich2
Total3
Surrey19019
Croydon71
Total19720
Middlesex18823
East Sussex3
Brighton9
Total93
Warwick and Coventry Joint Board for T.B.3526
Birmingham184
Total5330
Wight, Isle of22
wiltshire109
Worcestershire271
Worcester131
Total402
Yorkshire—East Riding
Hull9
Total9
Yorkshire—North Riding
Middlesbrough6
Total6
Yorkshire—West Riding15619
Leeds566
Rothcrham2
Total21425

PulmonaryNon-Pulmonary

Wales

Anglesey3
Brecon32
Caernarvon194
Cardigan41
Carmarthen21
Denbigh41
Flint7
Merioneth2
Pembroke31
Montgomery3
Glamorgan9423
Cardiff458
Merthyr Tydfil92
Swansea113
Total15936
Monmouth4217
Newport, Mon.145
Total5622

National Health Service (Discussions)

39.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is now in a position to say when a White Paper on the subject of Assumption B of Sir William Beveridge's Report is to be issued?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 26th May to my hon. Friend the Member for London University (Sir E. Graham-Little).

In view of the misapprehensions arising from the reported statement of my right hon. Friend to the effect that his proposals are "in the discard," will he give an unequivocal assurance that the Government's acceptance of Assumption B in the Beveridge Report has not been abandoned?

Will there be an opportunity for the House to discuss Assumption B?

Sickness Incidence

4o.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that there is evidence from recent statistics of approved societies that there is a substantial increase in the incidence of sickness among the insured population; and will he inquire as to the extent to which long hours of labour and fatigue resulting from Civil Defence and Home Guard duties are responsible for this and issue a Report on his findings?

I am aware that there has been an increase in the incidence of short-term sickness among the insured population. I have however no evidence to suggest that the increase is attributable to the factors indicated in my hon. Friend's Question and I do not think that an inquiry on the lines contemplated by him would serve a useful purpose, since it would be impossible to dissociate these factors from other circumstances arising out of the war.

Is there any contact between the medical department of the Ministry of Health and the Ministries of Labour and Home Security to prevent undue physical strain being brought upon workpeople and thus sending then on to the funds of approved societies?

Water Supply, Ripon

41.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the unsatisfactory position of the water supply to the city of Ripon, caused by the lack of supervision, particularly at night, of the reservoir installations; and whether he will rectify the position by arranging for the release of one of the prewar staff from the services?

I am aware of the difficulty to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War has agreed to the release from the Army of one of the men previously engaged on this work.

Death Rates

54.

asked the Minister of Health, respectively, the male and female death rates for 1942 and their comparison with those of 1938?

The death rates for males and females in 1942 (civilians only) in England and Wales were 14.4 and 10.7 per i,000 population, and in 1938 they were 12.5 and 10.8 respectively. Direct comparison between 1938 and 1942 is vitiated by the exclusion in 1942 of young and medically selected persons in the Forces.

Is the reduction not very largely due to the introduction and use of the new sulphonomide M. & B. 693 in infectious cases?

That is one element, but there are many other factors. These figures do show the extraordinary strength and character of the British people.

55.

asked the Minister of Health the child mortality in 1942 and its comparison with that of pre-war years?

The mortality rate for infants under one year of age in England and Wales in 1942 was 49 per 1,000 births. The corresponding rates for 1936, 1937 and 1938 were 59, 58 and 53, respectively. The death rate for children at ages one to five in England and Wales in 1942 was 3,424 per million population. The corresponding rates for 1936, 1937 and 1938 were 5,508, 5,121 and 4,600, respectively.

Does that answer imply that there has been something like a reduction of one-half in about half-a-dozen years in the case of children under five?

The country will draw its own conclusions, but it is a most satisfactory statement.

Is this due to the fact that so many doctors are abroad on active service?

That is a very pleasant jibe, but it does less than justice to the magnificent services rendered by the doctors.

56.

asked the Minister of Health the death rate in 1942, at ages under 15 years, from diphtheria and its comparison with that of previous years?

The death rate from diphtheria at ages under 15 in 1942 in England and Wales was 192 per million population. The corresponding death rates in 1939, 1940 and 1941 were 228, 266 and 280, respectively.

Partly to that and partly to adopting modern devices and skilfully using them.

Is it not due to the campaign for immunisation which we hope to extend very largely in the present six months?

Maternity Cases (Accommodation)

59.

asked the Minister of Health whether in his consideration of future adequate national health and medical services, special attention is being given to the need of providing efficient municipal maternity homes throughout the country; and whether he will state the present number of private and municipal maternity homes and their respective number of beds?

In the schemes for the future the provision of adequate accommodation for maternity cases is being considered in common with all other classes of case needing institutional care. According to the latest figures in my Department, there are some 4,100 maternity beds in voluntary institutions, 8,000 in municipal homes and hospitals and over 3,000 in the emergency maternity homes established by my Department, making a total of between 15,000 and 16,000 beds in all.

In view of the shortage of beds in maternity hospitals at the present time, can the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that plans are being prepared to see that every area in the country has an adequate maternity service?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he has given that answer on many other occasions? Is he further aware that expectant mothers are turned away from hospitals in this country every day, for lack of accommodation?

No doubt the hon. Lady knows that there are thousands more beds than there were when the war broke out and that their number is still being added to.

To what extent has the recent call for an increased service of nurses and midwives affected the situation?

I would like to see that question on the Paper. As the House knows, we have been taking very active steps in this matter.

Will not the right hon. Gentleman make a special inquiry into this urgent matter?

There is no need for a special inquiry. We know the facts, and we are working hard to make the maternity services as effective as they can be made.