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523 Parliamentary Intelligence. HOUSE OF COMMONS. MONDAY, FEB. 23RD. The Production of Certified Milk. Mr. HURD asked the Minister of Agriculture what was the number of producers of certified milk as compared with a year ago, and whether, in the interests of public health, he would recommend that the licence fee for such producers be made purely formal so as to encourage farmers to produce this milk.-Sir KINGSr,Ey WOOD (Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health) replied : The number of producers of certified milk at the present time is 74. I cannot give the number for this date last year, but the numbers at Dec. 31st, 1923, and Dec. 31st, 1924, were 55 and 71 respectively. The licence fees have been settled on a basis estimated to cover the special expenses of the Ministry of Health in respect of inspection and bacteriological examinations, and my right hon. friend does not think that he can recommend any reduction. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25TH. Nursing Homes Registration. Mr. G. B. HURST, in asking leave to introduce under the Ten-Minute Rule a Bill " to provide for the registration and inspection of nursing homes," said it was a measure which could not be regarded as being of a controversial character, and among its backers were members of all parties in the House. At present the term " nursing home " had no meaning whatever. Any person, however unqualified, could call his or her institution, however ill-run or managed, a nursing home, however unskilled or untrained the nurses might be and however extortionate the charges. The prevalence of these bogus institutions dragged down the prestige of great and deserving institutions, and the expense of such institutions was a drain on public resources. The intention was to provide for the registration and inspection of nursing homes, so that no institution could be carried on as a nursing home which was not worthy of the title. Under the Bill no institution would be entitled to be called a nursing home if it was carried on by unqualified or unsuitable persons or if the nursing or domestic staff was ill-accom- modated and the ventilation bad, or the lighting or warming inadequate. Those having charge of the management would have to be State-registered nurses after Jan. 1st, 1930. Nothing in the Bill was intended to preclude anyone having no connexion with the nursing profession from being registered, but the matron or person in charge must be a fully qualified person. Persons refused registration could appeal to the Minister of Health and he could appoint a referee to deal with the complaint. The question of proprietorship was unaffected, and so far as the details were concerned the promoters were most anxious to meet every- body interested, so that the measure might be definitely regarded as uncontroversial. Although the Bill had been drafted by the College of Nursing, it was not intended to help any section, but to help all nurses. He hoped that the Ministry of Health would do what it could for the Bill. The motion for leave to introduce the Bill was agreed to and the measure was brought in and read a first time. Diabetes Treatment in Scotland. On the motion for the second reading of the Public Health (Scotland) Amendment Bill, Sir J. GILMOUR (Secretary for Scotland) explained that it was exactly the same measure as that which the House discussed last year, and which, after passing through the House of Commons, was given a second reading in the House of Lords. It empowered the public health authorities in Scotland to provide insulin to persons suffering from diabetes who required assistance in obtaining the treatment. It was a matter of some urgency, because since the early part of 1924 certain local authorities had been, in fact, providing insulin, and this Bill was for the purpose of regularising the position. The Bill was confined to diabetes. Mr. J. STEWART (who was Under Secretary of Health for Scotland in the Labour Government) said that he thought it was very creditable to the Government that they were anxious to give effect to the promise made last year. Everyone who knew what the treatment of diabetes by insulin meant would realise that this was a scheme which ought to be hastened. But there were many diseases of a somewhat sinular nature about the cure of which nothing was known at present. The Labour Party thought that provision should be made for the treatment of other diseases if occasion arose without the need for passing a separate Bill. Under the Bill of last year it was provided that the measure could be applied to other diseases besides diabetes by an Order in Council laid on the Table and passed by both ! Houses of Parliament, and he urged that provision should be re-inserted in the present Bill. Several other Labour Members having supported Mr. Stewart, Sir J. GrLMOUR said that he could give no assurance that if the Chairman of the Scottish Grand Committee would allow an amendment to be moved restoring the former provision that the Government would be willing to accept it. Labour Members continued to protest, and Sir J. Gilmour remarked that if the Opposition preferred to lose the Bill it was for them to decide. Mr. Buchanan was still speaking when at 8.15 P.M., under the rules of the Houses, the debate was adjourned in order to allow a private Bill to be discussed. Inoculation of Naval Ratings. Mr. ROBERT YourtG asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many naval ratings were inoculated against enteric fever during the past six months ; how many refused to be inoculated ; whether any naval ratings were refused leave for declining to be inoculated ; and, if so, what ranks they belonged to and the dates of refusal of leave.-Mr. J. C. DAVIDSON (Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty) replied : The statistics asked for would entail reference to all H.M. ships and establishments in different parts of the world and involve much time and labour. The regulations on the subject are given in Sections 10 and 11 of Article 1316 of the King’s Regulations and Admiralty Instructions whicli reads as follows :- 10. No punishment or penalty is to be incurred for declining vaccination or revaccination on conscientious or other grounds, but every precaution is to be taken to prevent objectors becom ng a danger to the Service. They are not to land in ports where there may be any danger of contracting small-pox, and while the ship is lying at such ports they are to be inspected daily by the medical officer. The fact that a man has refused vaccina- tion or revaccination is to be noted on his Service certificate, and in no circumstances is he to be allowed to rc-engage or to be enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve (see Article 830, Clause 9). 11. When circumstances arise which render it advisable to inoculate officers and men against enteric fever, cholera, or any other infectious diseases, voluntary inoculation can only be performed. The provisions of Clause 10 are to apply to persons objecting to such inoculation on conscientious or other grounds. Cost of Maintenance in Asylums and Sanatoriums. Mr. HANNON asked the Minister of Health the average annual cost, including administration per individual, of maintaining patients in sanatoriums, county ard borough asylums, and institutions belonging to Poor-law authorities. —Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied : The average gross cost per inmate for the year 1923-24 is as follows : Sanatoriums, £136; county and borough lunatic asylums, £75 10s. and Poor-law institutions, £65 10s. It will be understood that the figure given for Poor-law institutions covers all persons in receipt of institutional relief and not merely sick persons. THURSDAY, FEB. 26TH. Mortality Among Ex-Service Men. Mr. GROVES asked the Minister of Pensions whether he had statistics to show whether the disabilities from which ex-Service men suffered had progressively decreased or increased ; and the degree of mortality among those ex-Service men who received pensions in 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924.-Major TRYON replied : The statistics of my department taken over a term of years show that in the great majority of cases the ailments or injuries occasioned by war service have either reached a stable condition or have materially improved, though necessarily a proportion of the cases have deteriorated. The mortality among men on the pension list in each of the six years from 1919 to 1924 has been 13’5, 11’6, 12, 14, 12 and 13’5 per 1000 respectively. Medical Referees. Mr. THOMAS WILLIAMS asked the Home Secretary if he was aware that in certain cases the medical referee under the Workmen’s Compensation Act had been known to be almost a permanent representative of employers in com- pensation disputes ; and would he take steps so that in future all medical referees should be independent of either employers or employees.-Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON replied : I know of no such cases among the medical referees at present appointed under the Act. It is a condition of the appointment of a medical referee that he shall hold no permanent employment either on the employers’ or on the workers’ side, and the medical referees are enjoined that in their private practice they should as far as possible avoid cases which are likely to come before them in their official capacity. It has not been found practicable to impose any further restrictions on them. Unhealthy School-buildings. Mr. ROBERT YOUNG asked the President of the Board of Education whether he could say when the last survey of
