(1)Every Board constituted under section 11 of the [1946 c. 81.] National Health Service Act 1946 (that is to say, every Regional Hospital Board and every Board of Governors of a teaching hospital) and every Regional Hospital Board constituted under section 11 of the [1947 c. 27.] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 shall use their best endeavours to secure that, so far as practicable, in any hospital for which they are responsible a person who is suffering from a condition of chronic illness or disability and who—
(a)is in the hospital for the purpose of long-term care for that condition; or
(b)normally resides elsewhere but is being cared for in the hospital because—
(i)that condition is such as to preclude him from residing elsewhere without the assistance of some other person; and
(ii)such assistance is for the time being not available,
is not cared for in the hospital as an in-patient in any part of the hospital which is normally used wholly or mainly for the care of elderly persons, unless he is himself an elderly person.
(2)Each such Board as aforesaid shall provide the Secretary of State in such form and at such times as he may direct with such information as he may from time to time require as to any persons to whom subsection (1) of this section applied who, not being elderly persons, have been cared for in any hospital for which that Board are responsible in such a part of the hospital as is mentioned in that subsection; and the Secretary of State shall in each year lay before each House of Parliament such statement in such form as he considers appropriate of the information obtained by him under this subsection.
(3)In this section " elderly person " means a person who is aged sixty-five or more or is suffering from the effects of premature ageing.