asked the Minister of National Insurance whether she will make arrangements in co-operation with the Minister of Health for patients to be instructed to make application for sickness benefit on admission to hospital; and whether she will allow sickness benefit in those cases in which a man in hospital has either not been instructed to make application or has been too ill to make application.

Steps have already been taken to ensure that hospital welfare officers are aware of the rules for claiming benefit, and hospitals are provided with the standard forms of medical certificate which embody claims for benefit. I will see what further steps can be taken to ease the position in these cases.