Report from the Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration).

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration)
Date:
1926
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report from the Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    208/284 (page 182)
    10 June, 1926. ] there should be the distinction. I should register them all under one head. 2975. Would you allow maternity homes to take medical and surgical cases, and medical and surgical homes to take maternity cases?—I have not had suffi- cient experience to say. I am not justi- fied in speaking of that. 2976. You are really talking more of +he administrative side?—I am speaking as representative of the registration authority that may be, and it does not matter very much to us whether it 1s under two Registers or one. 2977. But you do think that the same body should be the inspecting body ?—Yes. 2978. What do you think should be the pody—the County Borough ?—The County Borough, certainly, and we also take the view that the Non-County Borough should be the authority. 9979. And the County Councils?—As regards the County Councils and _the Urban and Rural Districts, that is a matter on which I do not wish to say anything; I am only speaking on behalt of the County Boroughs and Non-County Boroughs. What we feel is that the Local Authority is best qualified to keep the Register, and is best qualified to carry out the duties of inspection. 2980. Have you any idea yourself as to what would be useful conditions to lay think those set out in the Bill would be generally satisfactory. 2981. And you think it would be quite ‘possible to carry those out satisfactorily ? —-I think ‘so. 2982. What have you to say about in- -spection P—Who, do you think, should be the inspecting body P—As far as concerns the building, it might well be done by ‘the Building Inspectors under the Build- ing Department, but so far as control and management are concerned, that should be certainly under the Medical Officer. 2983. Would you put the Sanitary Engineer in at all? I suppose you have a Sanitary Engineer, have you not ?— Yes. 2984. You would not -think that necessary if he was a building man?P— Perhaps had better correct myself. I think the Sanitary Inspector would be better for drainage and things of that kind; he understands them; but the Medical Officer, I think, for questions of -control and working. [ Continued. 9985. You say in your memorandum: ‘(The Association would not approve of Councils being compelled to co-opt out- siders on Committees dealing with the registration of nursing homes.’’ What exactly is the idea there, or what is the objection there?—There is a very strong feeling on the part of Municipal Corpora- tions that the provisions for the co- option of outside members have gone as far as they should and further than a great many think is desirable. If for all kinds of departmental duties we have to to have outside members co-opted, they have not the same responsibility to the ratepayers that elected members have, and generally there is a very strong feel- ing that it is much better that the elected representatives should carry out the duties imposed on them by Parliament. 2986. ‘What is your opinion on the question of nursing homes run by medical men? I see you say here: ‘‘ The Associa- tion sees no reason why there should be any exemption in favour of nursing homes run by medical men ’’?—That would be our view. The decision of the House of Lords a night or two ago in regard to maternity homes would, I think, meet the case satisfactorily. That is, as [ understand it, the Local Authority would be entitled to require all nursing homes to be registered, but might exempt be registered, with a power to appeal on the part of any person who felt himself aggrieved. 2987. Is that exemption from registra- tion or only exemption from inspection? —I am not sure. 2988. The idea seems to be in some cases that practically automatically if a nursing home is run by a medical man, if the medical man applies for exemption under certain conditions, that is to say, that he gets two other medical men to guarantee that he is a suitable person, that should automatically mean registration, but that he should be exempt from inspection P— That of course would be quite satis- factory to us. Then we should have every case registered. I am not sure that I read Lord Salisbury’s speech the other night quite correctly, but I under- stood the report to be that there would be a power of exemption by the local supervising authority, leaving it to the option of the authority to refuse exemp- tion where they thought fit.