Orders of the Day — Discharged Soldiers (Hospital Treatment)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 May 1945.

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Photo of Mr George Buchanan Mr George Buchanan , Glasgow Gorbals 12:00, 31 May 1945

I do not quite agree with the last speaker about the absence of the chief. I was thinking that it might be a good opportunity for the new Financial Secretary to the War Office. Having won his spun on the back benches and been promoted to the Front Bench, he might wish to win his spurs in his new office, and I do not know of a more favourable opportunity for him to do so than this particular occasion. I only hope that he will prove to be capable of converting his chief to our point of view.

I think we have an overwhelming case. I had a personal contact with this question the other day, lending it some human interest. I live in a Glasgow tenement, and next door to me is a boy of 19 or 20 years of age. While serving in France he lost a limb. He has been discharged from hospital. It is a mistake, however, to think that because the War Office have discharged him from hospital, he is finished with hospital treatment. What has happened is this. The lad is now discharged, and at the end of a period of eight weeks he comes on to the allocated pension. The Minister of Pensions may hold that the loss of a leg is equal to a 60 per cent., 70 per cent, or 80 per cent. allocated pension. It means that this lad is to be maintained on that sum, although he has not reached anything like the condition when he can, even partly, enter into a competitive industry, not even in the lightest of light work. Pending his discharge he is handed over to the Minister of Pensions with one leg. He goes about until that leg hardens. It is like having false teeth. You have your teeth drawn but you do not go the following week to have the false set fitted. You have to wait. After a period of weeks or months the man goes back into another hospital, this time controlled by the Minister of Pensions, and there a leg is fitted on to him. While he is there he is given training in the use of the leg, and then when he comes out of that hospital he has to accustom himself to the leg and to train himself for future industry. With the best will in the world he cannot be ready to enter into training for a future job until months have elapsed after his discharge from the second hospital.

I can understand the War Office saying, "After all, when we have discharged the man that is as far as we can go, and if you have a quarrel it must be with somebody else." I do not think the Government can ride off with that. The fact is that the man has been injured in their service, and if the War Office are not going to accept the responsibility of making a full maintenance grant they should see that another Department takes over that duty. It is pathetic to see these cases of young men; in fact it is pathetic in the case of anybody. As one hon. Member said, you can go over the whole gamut of cases which are in a shocking state. No one can say that eight weeks is anything like a normal period for a serious case. One hon. Member referred to the cases requiring plastic treatment. Then there are cases of tuberculosis, of wounds to the legs and often of wounds to the sight which possibly cry for more human sympathy than any other case.

I would ask the hon. Gentleman to look at this matter again. It might be unfair in the circumstances to expect him to give us a Government decision on the matter now, but he is a comparatively young man and no one can say how long he may be in his present position. If he is defeated, or if he leaves that office, he will no doubt want to do what any other Member of Parliament likes to do, which is to say, when he looks back at his period of office, that he was able to do some good. I know of nothing more noble or better than that he should do what he can for the people who are serving in His Majesty's Army, and see that the limit of 56 days is cancelled and that no limit is placed upon the time required to make men fit to re-enter industry and earn their livelihood in ordinary competitive business.