Sixth report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee D and appendices, session 1956-1957: Running costs of hospitals.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Estimates
- Date:
- [1957]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Sixth report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee D and appendices, session 1956-1957: Running costs of hospitals. Source: Wellcome Collection.
34/448 page 12
![29 January, 1957.] tendency for the flow of traffic to a teaching hospital to correspond more closely with the area of the region in which it is situated. That process has not gone a very long way. 9. There is very little interlocking in London? There is inter-locking of membership, but not to the same extent for perfectly practical reasons. Whereas in Birmingham it is perfectly easy to secure interlocking, for the reason that the Regional Hospital Board nominees on the Board of Governors of the teach- ing hospital can all be members of the Regional Hospital Board, it is quite im- possible in London where, for example, one has as many as ten teaching hospi- tals in one region and the Regional Hos- pital Board could not possibly get all its nominees from among its own ranks for all those ten boards. 10. What sort of people are appointed to the Regional Boards? For instance, are members of the Management Com- mittees ever members of Regional Boards? Yes. 11. What sort of people are the chair- men of Regional Boards, and how many people are there on the Boards? If I may take the numbers first. The num- bers are laid down in one of the Orders referred to in the footnote to para- graph 2. The numbers vary from 22 to 31, I think; the average is, therefore,; about. 25.-or 26; (Ash to the kind of members, to some ex- tent that is laid down in the Third Schedule of the 1946 Act itself, which, although it leaves it entirely to the Minis- ter to decide who he shall appoint, does enjoin him to consult various groups of people before he makes his selection. He has, for example, to consult the univer- sity concerned, the organisations of the medical profession, the local health authorities in the area, and he has also made a practice of consulting Hospital Management Committees in the area, executive councils, and various other bodies. 12. Is he enjoined to keep a particular balance? No, not on Regional Hospi- tal Boards; no balance is laid down. 13. How many members of Regional Hospital Boards are members of Man- agement Committees, would you say in the average Board? I would have said something of the order of a quarter to a third, perhaps, in some cases. [Continued. Mrs. Hill.] It does vary quite consider- ably. For instance, on my own Hospital Committee I have two members of my Committee on the Regional Hospital Board, but it does not necessarily mean every other Committee has. Chairman. 14. Is the witness satisfied there is adequate liaison between the Committees and the Boards? I would have thought so. The liaison between the Regional Boards and the Management Committees, I would have thought, was much more a matter of day to day work- ing on particular problems between Officers and perhaps between chairmen of Regional Boards and the chairmen of Management Committees. 15. How often does the average Board meet? That varies a good deal. 16. I am talking of a full Board? —— I would have said most of them were meeting monthly. Captain Waterhouse. 17. Is there a university School of Medicine in each of the Regions? Yes. There is one in each of the pro- vincial regions; in the four London regions there is more than one in each. 18. Would I be right in thinking that this particular Board we are discussing now is really the key of the whole organisation, and that on them rests, to a large extent, the decision as to Whether or not the Service is economic- ally run; would you look upon the Regional Board as the key of the whole thing? From that point of view, yes ; I think my colleagues would agree with me on that.—(Mr. Marre.) We have gradually built up the financial responsi- bilities of the Regional Board for the expenditure in the Service. 19. Would you feel that some of the members of the Regional Boards are appointed because it is hoped that they will keep a special eye on the economy of the regions? (Mr. Pater.) That is one of the factors. Chairman. 20. I want you to elaborate that, if you would. Are there any members appointed for that purpose rather than for their hospital or medical knowledge? I am not sure what you mean by “ medical knowledge ”’.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32182466_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
