Oral Answers to Questions — Hospitals – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 20 Hydref 1969.
Mr Paul Rose
, Manchester, Blackley
12:00,
20 Hydref 1969
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to increase the staffs of accident units in hospitals and to improve the position of nurses and junior hospital doctors in order to speed up treatment of urgent cases in understaffed hospitals.
Mr Richard Crossman
, Coventry East
Advice has been given to hospital authorities on the staffing of accident and emergency departments. Concentration of services into major centres will help to improve staffing where deficiencies exist.
Mr Paul Rose
, Manchester, Blackley
Is the Minister aware that the treatment of urgent injury cases often is delayed for a considerable time because of the shortage of staff? This applies in the Manchester area in particular. I should like to thank the Minister for looking into this matter after the rather negative reply which was received some months ago. Would he see that more staff are allocated to these very important units?
Mr Richard Crossman
, Coventry East
Yes, Sir. I am particularly aware of the pressure on junior staff and the danger of their being moved from duties which may be urgent. I must do something about the matter, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing it to my attention.
Mr James Prior
, Lowestoft
Is the Minister aware that hospitals on the periphery are finding it very hard to get staff and that this is resulting in some wards having to be closed? What does he intend to do to help such hospitals to get more staff?
Mr Richard Crossman
, Coventry East
That may well happen, but it still remains true that this year the number of staff in hospitals is greater than ever before, and of course the quality of service is constantly rising.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
