asked the Minister for Health whether it has been provided that a patient in a tuberculosis sanatorium should receive a financial allowance apart from the treatment he receives there free of charge, irrespective of his means.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Allowance for Tubercular Patients.
Allowances payable under the Infectious Diseases (Maintenance) Regulations, 1948 and 1949 are subject to abatement in respect of other income of the persons concerned. Where a person suffering from tuberculosis is being maintained free of charge in a sanatorium by a health authority, the allowance is at a lower rate than that payable to a person receiving treatment at home. The reduction made in the allowance when free institutional treatment is provided, namely, £1 3s. per week in the case of a person from a county borough or £1 per week in the case of a person from a county, is, in fact, considerably less than the cost to the health authority of providing the institutional treatment for the patient.
While the allowance payable to a person receiving free institutional treatment is subject to abatement in respect of other income of the patient, I have requested health authorities to administer the scheme in a sympathetic manner, and to refrain from rigorous application of the means test in the case of persons in the low income group.