Eleventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee E and appendices, session 1950-1951: regional hospital boards and hospital management committees.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Estimates
- Date:
- [1951]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Eleventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee E and appendices, session 1950-1951: regional hospital boards and hospital management committees. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![15 February, 1951.] [Continued. 773. Why?—Because we are part of the organisation. We are only one section of an organisation which has been set up by the Ministry. Wing Commander Geoffrey Cooper. 774. If the overwhelming desire is to be streamlined and efficient, and that is really what we are all after, is it not highly important that people in responsible posi- tions should give their opinions whenever they feel they can help to improve the organisation?—I think I should require to think over that question before I answered it. It is rather difficult, having regard to ‘the mass of things which are handled, to say this particular one is unnecessary. Chairman. 775. We are wandering rather far away from the point we were discussing, which was the actual method by which your Board can exercise control over the staff of management committees. I have some doubt in my mind on the matter. Mr. Everingham has said that there is no power to lay down anything in the nature of an establishment?—That is correct. 776. On the other hand you have said that before any increase of staff takes place you have to give approval?—That is true. 777. It seems to me there is a conflict there because, if in fact they have to come to you for approval, you can control their establishment?—They come to us for approval of additions, and when they come to us for approval of additions, say to the Treasurer’s office, we would not give approval to that if we were not satisfied that they had no more than sufficient men or women in that department to do the work which is necessary. 778. Additional bodies or additional ex- penditure?—It covers both. If there was no provision in their estimates for this additional staff we should not give approval for it until the provision could be made. They may have to wait till the next year. 779. Effectively you’ can———?—control additions. 780. At any given point you know what the establishment in a group is, and if you decline to give power to the manage- ment committee to make any additions, the existing establishment is in fact the establishment which you control. Is that not so?—-You have got to remember that this organisation has been built up from zero in a way which is not common to industrial establishments. When the management ‘committees were appointed they were authorised by the Ministry to engage staff. The Ministry issued a cincular indicating what type of ‘staff they would like. Of course there was in the service f the transferred hospitals, both municipal and voluntary, a large body of staff. The Ministry at that time gave quite a wide discretion to management committees to set up the staff they needed for this work. It is only recently, probably within the last twelve months, that we have had. power to approve, and refuse if necessary, the engagement of additional staff. I think the two statements are reconcilable. For example, if there was an application for an increase in staff to deal with medical records we should not investigate the treasurer’s staff or the secretary’s staff, unless the records were attached to the secretarial staff. Mr. Thomas Reid. 781. You have no power to force a de- crease in staff?—Only through the budget. We can say they are spending too much money on staff, but then they would say “Whom have we got to dismiss? ” Mr. Diamond. 782. I quite recognise that, where you have a tendency for staff to increase and you have power to refuse an approval for an increase, you are in effect controlling staff, but it occurs to me there may be occasions when you may wish to encourage a reduction in staff arising out of a re- grouping. I understand it may be the case that, where you have a re-grouping of hospitals, the staff within the group might require to be altered. A re-grouping which has increased the number of hospitals might conceivably require increased administra- tive and clerical staff, and another re- grouping might make a decrease possible. Do I gather that you have no power to encourage that reduction except by the cual, which means waiting a time?— es. Wing Commander Geoffrey Cooper.] Could I refer to a question which was raised with regard to the Ministry of Health’s inquiry into staff? Chairman.] Before we go to that, are there any other questions which members of the Sub-Committee wish to put on the question of controlling staff, either financially or by establishment? Wing Commander Geoffrey Cooper.] My question is related to that. Miss Ward. 783. Could I just ask one question? It has been said to me by various doctors that in the old days they wrote their own letters and dealt with their own work in relation to patients they sent into hospitals?—That is a fact. 784. Now they all have secretaries, and I think some of them feel perhaps that is unnecessary expenditure, though I have no doubt that, if you wanted to withdraw them, that would raise another point; but I do think that some of them feel that the ad-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32182478_0107.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
