asked the Minister of Health whether he will take steps to set up a distribution centre for hearing aids in Eastbourne.

This is a matter for the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, which I understand does not feel able to give high priority to this development.

Is there any reason against it? I ask that because Eastbourne would serve a very wide area, and it would be a great convenience to a number of people living there.

The Regional Hospital Board considered that Brighton was more appropriate as a hearing aid centre. The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a postal repair service between Eastbourne and Brighton and patients can exchange their batteries at the local hospital at Eastbourne.

asked the Minister of Health why hearing aids of the necessary strength are not available for National Health Service patients who are almost stone deaf, in cases in which such people can be made to hear with aids available elsewhere for under £50; and if he will take steps to expedite the case, details of which he has received from the hon. Member for Ilford, North.

My right hon. Friend is investigating the possibility of designing a National Health Service hearing aid to help the small minority of people who do not benefit from the present range of Medresco aids. I am writing to the hon. Member about the individual case referred to.

asked the Minister of Health if, when an individual buys privately a hearing aid, he will arrange for him to receive an allowance equal to the cost of the National Health Service aid.

My right hon. Friend has no power to give financial assistance towards the cost of hearing aids obtained privately.

What percentage of people obtaining hearing aids pay for them themselves? Secondly, would the hon. Gentleman say whether or not he is satisfied that the National Health Service hearing aids are sufficiently suitable for all people?

All we know about percentages is that, as far as we can ascertain, the vast majority of people are fitted with satisfactory hearing aids under the National Health Service. There are a few who are not and, as I indicated in answer to a previous Question, we are now investigating the possibility of the introduction of an aid which will cater for the remaining few.

Has the Ministry examined the possibility of issuing post-aural aids in place of the Medresco aids?

My right hon. Friend will be investigating each aspect of the matter.

Is there any good reason why, in cases of this kind, arrangements should not be made for the issue of free batteries?

It is questionable whether this is possible technically. We have batteries for our existing range of hearing aids and it is possible that they would not fit the others in any case.

asked the Minister of Health what representations he has received from the Confederation of British Industry or from any other source concerning absenteeism following the introduction of the new medical certification system last January; and what reply he has sent.

The Confederation mentioned its fears about this in exchanges following my appeal for a reduction in the number of medical certificates for employers' purposes. But certification for National Insurance purposes is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance, who considers that it is much too early to judge the effect, if any, of the new regulations on absenteeism. This view has been conveyed to the Confederation. I have had no other representations.

Will my right hon. Friend consider publishing regularly any figures which might be available on this problem so that we might be able to see whether there is any possible trend one way or the other?

I think that that would not be a matter for me.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to bring about the establishment of an emergency dental service.

On present advice I do not consider that the establishment of such a service would be justified.

Does the Minister consider that in establishing the health centres that he is talking about there might be some scope for including dental services among those to be provided?

This is done, but not on a very extensive scale. The Estimates Committee considered this question a few years ago but concluded that the setting up of special arrangements, whether financed by the dentists themselves or by the Health Departments, would not be justified.

asked the Minister of Health if he will consider the introduction of legislation to allow local health authorities to provide wider advice and instruction in family planning than they are authorised to do at present.

This matter is under consideration.

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that wider provision of this service is desirable? If so, does he realise that he can facilitate it by legislation, if he wishes to do so? Will he do so?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the timing of legislation is not a matter for me. He will also be aware of the fact that I sent a circular to local health authorities on this matter. I believe that certain steps could be taken by many authorities—and in my view authorities should take them—to develop the existing facilities even within the limits of their present powers.

Can my right hon. Friend say what has been the response so far from local health authorities on family planning?

Generally favourable.

Will the right hon. Gentleman be giving any grants towards this service? At present funds have to be raised by voluntary contributions.

If the hon. Lady is thinking of grants for the Family Planning Association, these are channelled through local authorities, and a number of authorities are making these grants, as well as making premises available free of charge.

asked the Minister of Health to what he attributes the rise in the bill for prescriptions since prescription charges were abolished; and whether he will now consider restoring them, subject to exemptions in case of real need.

A number of factors including the removal of the financial barrier to seeking treatment; the heavier incidence of sickness in 1965; and continuance of the long term trends towards the use of more powerful but more costly drugs and towards an increase both in the population and in the proportion of the elderly. The re-introduction of the charges would be a retrograde step.

The right hon. Gentleman has listed a number of other causes, but does he not agree that with a rise in costs of £23 million in the first year, which is a rise of about 22 per cent., the abolition of these charges must at any rate have been a substantial factor? Does he really think that this is a wise sense of priorities, even within the Health Service itself—wiser than the provision of new hospitals, or the improvement of others?

I have never denied that abolition was a substantial factor. All I have said was that it is quite impossible to quantify the various factors involved. I think that abolition was a wise step.

Does my right hon. Friend realise that this withdrawal of the tax on sickness is welcomed in the country? Does he recall that when the party opposite doubled the charge the Lancet showed that this meant that although they were imposing a charge they were increasing expenditure?

I am also aware that for most of the time when charges were in operation the medical profession was categorically against them.

asked the Minister of Health what improvements and extensions have been made since the publication in August of the White Paper, Immigration from the Commonwealth, to the facilities for making checks, including X-rays, on the health of immigrants at ports of entry; and to what proportion of Commonwealth immigrants health checks at the port of entry are currently being applied.

As I informed the hon. Member on 20th December, the existing facilities have not changed but they are being more comprehensively used. Virtually all voucher holders, and some others, are medically examined at the ports of entry but entitled dependants, who in the first three months of this year made up about three quarters of those admitted for settlement, are not subject to medical examination under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act.

Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is very important that there should be full medical checking at the port of entry, from the point of view both of public health in this country and of inducing confidence towards Commonwealth immigrants among people living here? Is not his reply disappointing, in that the White Paper said that there would be further improvements in the health checks at the port of entry

We do not feel that elaborate facilities at the port of entry would be justified, in view of the fact that we are actively consulting Commonwealth Governments about more comprehensive checks in the countries of origin. We think that that is the best way of handling the matter, but certainly, within the limits of the statutory powers, we are examining the great majority of immigrants.

Are equally thorough health checks being applied to the much greater number of aliens coming into the country?

The same provisions apply to both.

asked the Minister of Health how much support is being given by Her Majesty's Government to Mental Health Week; and if he will make a statement.

Mental Health Weeks for 1966, 1967, and 1968 are being planned by a group of voluntary associations. It is not normal practice for the Government to sponsor such weeks, but with my encouragement the organisers are seeking the co-operation locally of hospitals and local authorities.

Would not the Minister agree that every effort should be made to help people back to normal health and to be accepted by the community, in view of the shortage of labour in this country? Would he not agree that the Chancellor's statement on his "poll tax" is not helping these voluntary associations one bit?

The latter point is hardly one for me, but the fact that I do not officially sponsor these weeks does not, of course, mean that I am not fully in sympathy with their objectives.

asked the Minister of Health if he will set up an inquiry into the conditions under which registrars of births, deaths and marriages are employed; and if he will make a statement.

I am informed that the salary claim on behalf of registration officers is still before the National Joint Council, which is considering it, in relation to a general salary review for local government officers. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to set up such an inquiry at present.

Does not the Minister agree that these people do not really know who their employer is and that, in a highly inflationary time like the present, it is difficult to know to whom to put in a wage claim? Will he, after this one is disposed of, look at this problem, which is a question of employer-employee relationships?

I have looked at this question and, as I told my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Norwood) on 30th July, last year, I do not consider that it is necessary to introduce legislation to define the actual legal employer of registration officers. When the present matter is out of the way, I will gladly look at the general question again. However, I will tell the hon. Member that the claim has been remitted to a working party set up by the National Joint Council.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will give an assurance that the 10 per cent. census meant that one person in 10 was selected as a sample; and, in view of the fact that those selected to receive the census forms also received a pamphlet from the Registrar General stating that they had been selected out of millions, if he is satisfied that this pamphlet was not misleading to the public.

The answer to both parts of the question is "Yes, Sir".

Would the hon. Gentleman agree that, particularly in official communications, accuracy is to be preferred to flattery, and that, to send forms to people saying that they have been selected out of millions when they have been selected out of tens, is grossly inaccurate, though very flattering?

I cannot understand why the hon. Gentleman is being pernickety. There are about 15 million heads of households and if one is chosen as one in 10, he is in fact chosen as one in millions.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that, as one selected, I feel very honoured to be one in a million?

It so happens that I was in a hotel at the time and I also was one selected.

asked the Minister of Health when the cervical cancer smear test will be made available to women in the Selby area of Yorkshire.

Arrangements are at present being made to extend the service to the Selby area, where it should be fully in operation by the end of the year.

Is the hon. Member aware that the local medical officer of health said that it would be a much longer delay? Can he confirm that it will certainly be available at the end of the current year?

If we ask for information for use in the Houses of Parliament, I hope that no one would give us the wrong information. I stand by the Answer.

asked the Minister of Health what progress he has made in implementing the recommendations of the Brain Committee on drug addiction; and when the necessary legislation will be introduced.

I cannot yet add to my reply to the Question by the right hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Deedes) on 28th April. Any necessary legislation will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time permits.

As I am sure the right hon. Gentleman wishes to avoid any suggestion that he is dragging his feet in the matter, will he say what progress is being made in setting up treatment centres, which does not require legislation? Can he give some indication when legislation on this distressing social problem is likely to be introduced?

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the timing of legislation is not a matter for me. I assure him that I am in no way dragging my feet. These are serious matters involving extensive consultation. Professional interests are involved. As for treatment, the hon. Member knows from his past experience at the Ministry of Health that treatment for addicts is already available at a number of hospitals.

Is the Minister aware that in the earlier reply which he made to me he indicated that a committee was to be set up in order to look further into the matter? In view of the profound public anxiety on the subject, can he say when this committee will go into action and who will comprise it?

All I can tell the hon. Member is that the composition of this committee and its terms of reference are urgently being considered at this moment.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to remedy the shortage of fully qualified electroencephalograph technicians in the National Health Service.

Hospital authorities are responsible for recruitment. My Department has given advice to them on the organisation and content of training courses and distributes career literature. Total numbers continue to increase steadily, and I am not aware of a general shortage.

But the Minister is aware that there is general dissatisfaction among medical auxiliaries, especially electroencephalograph technicians. Is he aware that these are among new categories of skilled workers not even properly represented on the Whitley Council machinery? Will he conduct a survey to see what improvements in pay structure and career structure can be introduced for these people?

I do not think that a survey of this kind is called for in this instance. This group, which is a small group, received an 11·2 per cent. overall increase in August, 1963, a 3 per cent. increase in August, 1964, and a 3 per cent. increase in August, 1965. The numbers have increased from 119 in 1961 to 160 in 1964 and 172 last year.

asked the Minister of Health what plans he has to provide better health facilities for elderly people, and in particular more hospital beds for acute illness, and more local authority accommodation for chronic illness.

I have asked regional hospital boards in reviewing their programmes to give due priority to the expansion of hospital geriatric services. I have also asked local authorities in revising their health and welfare plans to have regard to the adequacy of residential accommodation for elderly people not in need of continuous nursing care.

I thank the Minister for that reply. Will he bear in mind that, from the point of view of the hospital services, old people tend to be at the bottom of the queue because of the pressures on hospitals and that, from the point of view of the local authority services, what one might call the mildly chronically ill tend to fall between the two stools—the hospital services on the one hand and the local authority services on the other?

It is to deal with these two points, in so far as they are generally applicable, that, firstly, I asked the hospital authorities to concentrate on the services for old people in the review of the plan and, secondly, I asked hospital authorities and local health authorities to get together and plan in liaison with each other.

Since Newcastle Regional Hospital Board has been arguing with the Ministry of Health for a very long time, can the right hon. Gentleman say, in view of his Answer, whether permission has now been given to that board to get on with the provision of, at any rate, a day geriatric hospital which has been wanted for such a long time?

If the hon. Lady wants an answer to a question relating to a specific hospital I hope that she will be good enough to put a Question down.

asked the Minister of Health what representations his department has received about the method used to diagnose pneumoconiosis and other chest diseases associated with industrial dust; what changes he will make; and it he will make a statement.

None, Sir. The method of diagnosis of chest diseases under the National Health Service is a matter for the judgment of the responsible clinician.

Is my hon. Friend aware that hundreds of thousands of industrial workers are suffering with chest diseases, many of which, upon post mortems being conducted, prove the doctors to be wrong; and will he treat this matter more seriously?

I assure my hon. Friend that I treat the matter very seriously indeed. However, the responsibility for diagnosing chest complaints, and particularly pneumoconiosis—which, I think, my hon. Friend has particularly in mind—for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit and pension, is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance.

Would not my hon. Friend agree that the time is long overdue for this question to be thoroughly examined again? Is he aware that all of us, certainly hon. Members who represent industrial constituencies, have cases on our books where no satisfaction has been given, although evidence of dust was there? Would he not agree that a wider sphere, so to speak, should be covered in this connection?

This is a question of clinical opinion. I assure my hon. Friend that I am not unaware of it, and he will appreciate that I mean that because I represent one of the oldest mining areas in the country.

asked the Minister of Health what advice he is offering to local authorities seeking to make grants to the Brook Advisory Centres Limited.

asked the Minister of Health how many local authorities have applied to him for permission to make a grant to Brook Advisory Centres Limited.

Contributions by local authorities to voluntary bodies providing services for the prevention of illness through family planning advice do not require my approval; and I am, therefore, advising inquirers that they should satisfy themselves that this is such a body.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his reply, but would he not agree that the more widely this view is known in advance of applications from the Brook Advisory Centre, the more likely the constructive, if experimental, work of the group is likely to prosper?

indicated assent.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the new right granted to the family doctor to make charges to a patient for prescribing oral contraceptives and for prescribing or fitting of contraceptive appliances is a discouragement to family planning and in conflict with the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Population that general facilities for family planning advice and treatment should be available under the National Health Service; whether he is aware that this new right will fall more onerously upon parents with large families and low incomes; and what are the reasons that have prompted him at this time to permit doctors to charge these fees.

No, Sir. The Royal Commission said that advice on contraception should be given under the National Health Service, and no charge is proposed for this. The prescribing or fitting of contraceptives on social as opposed to medical grounds is not, however, part of medical care under the Health Service, and a small charge in such cases is therefore reasonable. I do not believe this will discourage family planning, but the arrangement is subject to review.

Is it not a most retrogressive step, and in complete breach of our election pledges, that prescriptions should be charged? Is it not, indeed, quite in conflict with all the urging the Minister has done through the local authorities to get on with family planning when we are creating a system under which the more people are in need but least able to afford this attention, the less opportunity they will have for it? Why has my right hon. Friend capitulated to the doctors, who have already had this large increase?

There is no question of any capitulation here. My hon. Friend must have misunderstood, because in such circumstances a doctor may already issue—indeed, always has issued—a private prescription. The only difference here is that for issuing a private prescription the doctor is entitled to make a small charge. This seems to be reasonable and logical. I do not for one moment believe that it will discourage family planning. Indeed, I think that it will encourage people to go to the family doctor on this matter, which I want them to do.

Can the Minister say how he reconciles the introduction of this new charge with his declared policy to abolish all charges within the Health Service?

It seems that the hon. Gentleman, too, does not appreciate the distinction between the private prescription and a National Health Service prescription.

May not this provision of a premium from the doctors' point of view—to make it more profitable to prescribe this form of treatment—have some distorting effect?

I do not honestly think that doctors will be guided in the kind of advice they give to their patients by whether they get a fee of half a crown or so for writing out a prescription—[Interruption.] If I do not know the doctors, I do not know who does. I can assure my hon. and learned Friend that I have made it quite clear to the doctors that this move is experimental, and that if it were to act to the disadvantage of a patient who required the service on medical grounds it would be subject to review in the light of experience, and the doctors have accepted that.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity.

asked the Minister of Health how many women in the area served by the King George Hospital, Ilford, are at risk in respect of cancer of the womb; how many women a year can be given smear tests with the facilities at present available to them at that hospital; what developments are planned for an exfoliative cytology unit for them; and to what extent the limiting factor at present is staff and to what extent it is other resources.

The risk is highest among those aged 35 and over. There are 73,000 such women in the area, of whom 5,000 a year can at present be given tests. The intended addition of one technician at the hospital and the clinic facilities that are being provided should be sufficient for all women who wish to be screened.

Will the hon. Gentleman say how often a woman ought to be screened? From the figures which he gave, I reckon that one would need about six times the service at present available to have an examination once every two years for all women.

The aim of the service is to screen well women in the age group most at risk, and we hope to screen each woman once every five years.

asked the Minister of Health if he will give particulars of all hospital building projects in the north-east development districts costing over £100,000 for which contracts have been let but which have not been started, or where work was under way at 31st March, 1966, including the estimated cost and date of completion in each instance.

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Cleveland (Mr. Tinn) on 25th April, 1966.

Has my right hon. Friend any evidence of a falling off in the tempo of hospital building in the North-East due to material or labour shortages?

No, Sir, I have no evidence of that.

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements are being made to increase the number of places available in homes and institutions for the mentally handicapped in the south-western area of England.

I must ask the hon. Member to await my report on the hospital building programme and the second revision of the plans for the health and welfare services of local authorities, both of which will, I hope, be published within a few weeks.

In view of the fact that there is likely to be some delay in this matter, will the right hon. Gentleman consider setting up some holiday homes so that the mothers of these mentally handicapped children might have from four to six weeks' relief in a year?

I will consider anything that the hon. Lady puts forward, but existing hospital beds for the mentally subnormal in the south-western region as a whole exceed the long-term requirements. I agree that distribution needs to be improved.

Now that mental science has opened up new possibilities for assisting these unfortunate people, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the fact that it is very important that this development should be followed up by additional facilities?

Certainly. One of the things that we can do is to expand facilities in the community for these patients. That is being done at a very satisfactory rate of progress.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will issue a circular to hospital and local authorities on the subject of health centre provision in conjunction with hospital, clinic and welfare services planning.

I am now considering the provision of further guidance to health service authorities on health centres.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the important need for the closest administrative integration of provincial health centres with other welfare and community needs and other organisations?

I will certainly bear that point in mind. There has been a remarkable increase in interest in health centres. Twenty-four have come into existence since the appointed day in 1948, a further 24 are approved for start, or actually under construction, yet another 24 are in the planning stage, and more than twice as many again are under consideration at local level.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware of the lack, both absolute and relative to other parts of Wales, of hospital facilities in the Newport and East Monmouthshire area; whether he is giving consideration to alternative siting of the beds projected in further phases of hospital building in Monmouthshire in order to take into account the growing population of the Cwmbran New Town and the availability of suitable staff; and whether his decisions will be expedited and the intended further hospital building accelerated.

A ward block of 156 beds and 25 cots and a theatre suite of four theatres together with a gynaecology theatre have recently been opened to patients as an addition to the 247 beds of the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.

In the review of the hospital plan for this area my right hon. Friend has taken account of the factors referred to in the Question.

Is the Minister aware that although Monmouthshire may be aware of what has gone on in the past it is more concerned about what will go on in the future? Can we have a decision about what will happen in connection with phase 2 of the Royal Gwent Hospital, and whether it will be where it was originally sited or elsewhere? Will he bear in mind the fact that last week at the Royal Gwent the emergency casualty department almost broke down as a result of shortage of staff?

I appreciate that there are difficulties, but provision is being made for improvement. My hon. Friend must be a little more patient and await the publication of the review in order to find out what will happen in future.

asked the Minister of Health whether he will introduce a scheme to raise the standard of pay for nursing staff employed in the National Health Service to make it equivalent to that received by nursing staff in Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

The pay of nursing staff in the National Health Service is a matter in the first instance for the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a considerable amount of work is put in every day and every week of the year by the nursing staffs of nursing mental homes and hospitals throughout the country, and also that certain risks are undertaken by them? Does not he consider that the present position is inequitable?

I am aware of the work that is done. If the hon. Member is referring to the present position in relation to the Armed Forces, I must point out that the conditions of service in the Armed Forces are quite different from those in the National Health Service. For example, nurses in the Armed Forces generally have to sign on for a definite period of service, from two to eight years, during which time they are subject to military law and may be posted anywhere here or overseas.

In view of what has been done for doctors, should not something quickly be done for nurses, too?

I would remind my hon. Friend that nurses had a quite substantial pay rise as from 1st July last.

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that even with the increases the nurses received they are little more than slave labour at the moment? Will he intervene and take urgent action in order to see that they are not exploited in future as they are at the moment?

I cannot agree that the nursing service is equivalent to slave labour.

asked the Minister of Health what is the date when the rebuilding of the Macclesfield General Hospital will commence.

I would ask the hon. Member to await the review of the hospital building programme which will be published within the next few weeks.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether the date which stood in 1964 for the rebuilding of this hospital in 1967–68 still stands, and in reviewing the matter will he take note of the fact that part of the hospital is 120 years old and was an old workhouse; that it covers a wide area, and that there are insufficient beds?

I am sorry, but I am in a difficult position here. I cannot anticipate the publication of the review, but the facts referred to by the hon. Gentleman have been taken into account.

asked the Minister of Health if he will introduce legislation to abolish the charges for dentures and spectacles supplied under the National Health Service imposed in 1951.

The Government will consider the removal of these charges when economic circumstances permit. There is, however, no early prospect of removal.

Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that it remains Government policy to end this and other National Health Service charges? If there is any evidence that the Government are dragging their feet will he have a word with the Prime Minister about it, because the Prime Minister felt very strongly about these matters in 1951?

I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government adhere to the principles of a free health service. They removed the prescription charge as a first major step towards this. This was regarded as having the strongest case for abolition. The timing of the removal of other charges must depend on priorities, and upon economic growth.

How does the right hon. Gentleman reconcile that statement with his agreement to the introduction of a new charge for certain prescriptions for women?

There is a later Question specifically relating to that matter.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to meet the shortage of plaster technicians within the hospital service.

There is no such grade. I have no information of a general shortage of plaster orderlies.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that many hospitals, including my own in Bromley, are finding it almost impossible to recruit plaster technicians at present, mainly because the salary scale of a fully trained technician is £12 7s. 6d., which is the same as for an unskilled hospital porter? Is it not time that these scales were drastically revised?

I am aware that one hospital in the Bromley H.M.C. Group has had a vacancy for a plaster orderly for some months, but there is no evidence that this shortage is of a general kind. I am sure that the hon. Member will like to know that the Ancillary Staffs Whitley Council is this year conducting a general review of the pay structure of these workers.

asked the Minister of Health in what year the upgrading of the Mexborough Montagu Hospital will be completed.

I cannot yet say when further building work will be undertaken at this hospital.

Is my hon. Friend aware that the staff and many others will be very disappointed by that reply? Will he have another look at the survey taken in 1963 which denoted the deficiency at this hospital? Will he please publish that surrey?

On the latter point, I am not sire that we are prepared to publish the survey. However, I accept that the buildings at this hospital fall short, in many ways, of what they ought to be. I appreciate that there is a strain on the nursing staff and we are grateful to them for carrying on. I would ask my hon. Friend not to push me any further because we must await the review of the building programme.

asked the Minister of Health how many doctors were employed in hospitals in the Sheffield region at the latest possible date; and how many vacancies now exist.

About 1,310 in terms of whole time equivalents at 30th September, 1965. Some 80 posts are vacant.

Would my hon. Friend take into account that there are other factors besides salaries which are causing the shortage of doctors in this region? May I ask him to consult his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to make more places available in our medical schools, especially for women students?

I should like my hon. Friend to know that the figures I gave him represented a substantial increase on the numbers in the previous year. We appreciate that there is a need for a greater outflow of medical students, but the outflow is increasing. We estimate that there should be about 1,710 British-born graduates this year. We have improved the position considerably.

asked the Minister of Health what is now the shortage of maternity beds in the area of the Kingston Group Hospital Management Committee; and what steps he is taking to eliminate this.

Sixty; the regional hospital board intends to provide more maternity beds later this year.

Would the right hon. Gentleman say at what hospital it intends to provide more maternity beds and how many more?

Yes, Sir. It is at Kingston Hospital, where the board proposes to provide 12 additional beds and to improve the labour suite. But a shortage of 60 beds does not take into account teaching hospital beds which are used by a number of women from the Kingston area.

asked the Minister of Health what plans he has for providing additional hospital accommodation to serve the people of Redditch, Worcestershire, in view of the planned expansion of the town.

I must ask the hon. Member to await the results of the current review of the hospital plan.

Is the Minister aware that we have been going on like this for a very long time and that already hospital facilities in Redditch are completely antiquated? As the town grows, the position will become worse and worse. If it is a question of finance, will the Minister give an assurance to the public that he will immediately restore prescription charges?

I cannot accept the last part of the question. I should like to treat the hon. Member's question sensibly. The movement of population is taken into account in arriving at conclusions for hospital building programmes. I know that this has been a long time, but I think that he will find that it has taken no longer to prepare this review than it took previously to prepare the plans of his own Administration.

asked the Minister of Health, in view of the facts that in the Plymouth area there are over 6,000 names on the hospitals' waiting lists and that one of the seven surgeons has 600 cases awaiting his services, what action he is taking to rectify this situation.

The South Western Regional Hospital Board has the situation under constant review and plans are in hand to make new consultant appointments and increase the number of beds and operating theatres.

This is a very long-term suggestion and will not help in our immediate problems. In view of the fact that the Chancellor has introduced a gaming tax in order to offset mortgage subsidies, would the Minister consider having a national lottery, as is done in the Republic of Ireland, in order to try to help in the hospital situation?

We looked at the question of a national lottery, but even if we had a national lottery we should not increase the resources which we have to apply to the building of hospitals. On the specific point made by the hon. Lady, I would point out that new consultant appointments have recently been made and others are shortly to be added. There will be some improvement in beds in both the Devonport and Freedom Fields Hospitals in the summer and a further improvement at the beginning of next year. The regional hospital board is looking at the problem.

Is the Minister aware that this problem exists not only in Plymouth but throughout the whole of Devon? Well over 10,000 people are waiting for operations. Since the Labour Party has been in power there has been no improvement at all.

The hon. Member's last remark will take a bit of beating.

Answer the question.

I will answer if you wait. [Interruption.] I beg your pardon, Mr. Speaker. We are aware, as much as the hon. Member is aware, of the fact that there is a shortage of hospital beds in many regions. We are perhaps a little more conscious of it than was the Administration which preceded us.

Is the Minister aware that his Answer to the hon. Lady the Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dame Joan Vickers) will be very badly received not only by potential patients but by the medical profession throughout this area of Devon and Cornwall who are gravely concerned about the shortage of hospital beds?

I do not think that the Answer which I gave the hon. Lady will be badly received because it indicated that the regional hospital board is cognisant of the problem and is taking steps to remedy it.

In view of the very unsatisfactory nature of the reply for the people of the West Country, I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment at the first opportunity.

asked the Minister of Health when he plans to provide a geriatric unit for old people at Sherborne, Dorset.

I must ask the hon. Member to await the outcome of the present review as it affects the main hospital services for West Dorset, but I can confirm that the regional hospital board has taken fully into account the need to improve the distribution of geriatric accommodation for this area and that the needs of Sherborne are recognised.

Is the Minister aware that there is continuing hardship because the old people have to be sent so far away? Is he aware that the local authority is very keen on this scheme? Will he give it a high priority?

We are conscious—I am conscious—of the inconvenience both to patients and to visitors when geriatric patients have to be sent 19 miles from their home town, which is the distance between Dorchester and Sherborne. We are looking into the matter.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet completed his review of the hospital building programme; and when the new hospital at Dorchester will be started.

I hope to complete my review and place the results before the House within the next few weeks. Until then I would rather not comment on individual hospitals.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that is more or less the same Answer as the one I had a year ago? People are anxious to know where they stand in this matter. Will he give us the earliest possible information?

A year ago the hon. Member had just over a year to wait. He now has only a week or two to wait. I assure him that the new district general hospital is intended to include an accident and emergency department, a geriatric assessment unit, a maternity unit and a full range of outpatient facilities.

asked the Minister of Health if he will appoint an independent inquiry into the hours and working conditions of junior hospital doctors, in view of the unsatisfactory situation arising from the responsibility in this field of the Medical and Hospital Dental Whitley Council.

No, Sir.

I am aware that the living and working conditions, including accommodation, of junior hospital doctors are in some instances unsatisfactory but hospital boards are, within the resources available, trying to remedy the position. Hours of duty are the responsibility, in the first instance, of the employing authority.

Is my hon. Friend aware that this is a very serious and deteriorating situation? Is he aware that the spate of emotive newspaper articles is not helping confidence? Would he look into this situation and provide some constructive proposals in order to alleviate it?

I agree very much with my hon. Friend about the newspaper articles, particularly in view of the number of inaccuracies in one which I have particularly in mind. The long hours of duty and the exacting work undertaken by junior doctors has been recognised in the substantially increased salaries for these grades which the Prime Minister announced last Wednesday.

Will the right hon. Gentleman also recall the valuable unofficial evidence which representatives of those doctors provided in the recent inquiry and which might well be followed up in pursuing the very pertinent point raised by the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Dr. David Owen)?

My Department and the profession have established a joint working party on the organisation of medical work in hospitals and this working party may well consider some aspects of this question.

asked the Minister of Health what plans he has to speed up the provision of ear, nose and throat beds at the Children's Hospital, Birmingham.

It is not intended to increase the present number of beds at this hospital.

Is the Minister aware that children in the Birmingham area needing E.N.T. treatment must already wait 18 months for that treatment and that this waiting can do permanent damage to their hearing? Is he further aware that if a child needs attention in hospital for straightforward tonsils and adenoids, it has no hope of admission at the present time?

Shame.

It is not just at this present time; this has been the position for quite a long time. I am appreciative of the difficulties mentioned by the hon. Lady. This specialty is now concentrated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, while previously it was scattered throughout the hospitals of the teaching group. We feel that this is a better system, which will ensure that the greatest number of people are treated.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make a statement about the proposed future of Moseley Hall Hospital, Birmingham.

I must ask the hon. Member to await the results of the present review of the hospital plan.

May I ask the hon. Gentleman to bear in mind the fact that this hospital deals at present with 2,000 E.N.T. admissions a year and that all local hospitals cannot possibly cope with this number because they are already overstrained?

The present building is a difficult one for this purpose. It is not suitable for either further modernisation or extension. I think the hon. Lady can take it that we have this in mind in the review.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that the smear tests at Farnham Hospital to screen women patients for cancer of the cervix are being discontinued for lack of funds; and whether he will make available sufficient funds to continue these tests, in view of the value of this service to the women living in Aldershot and district.

A service is available through gynaecologists and the family planning Clinic. The facilities for examining smears are to be expanded in the main centre at Guildford by the recruitment of an additional technician.

Does the Parliamentary Secretary realise that an economy of something like £800 has been made and that the result of people having to travel greater distances is that many are under the impression that the service has been abandoned completely?

I am glad of this opportunity to give an assurance that the service has not been abandoned completely. The Farnham Hospital has been overloaded to some extent, largely because of the appointment of an additional gynaecologist. But it is true that the main centre for this area will be concentrated at Guildford, which will take smears from general practitioners and the Farnham Hospital.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that apart from the recent additional gynaecological consultant at Farnham, it is unlikely that Guildford will be able to provide the additional facilities that are required? Is he further aware that the Farnham Group did not ask for a fully trained technician but that in view of the extra responsibilities in urinary cytology too, it asked for a general technician who could be added to the pathological staff of the hospital for that and other purposes?

The regional hospital board is, of course, responsible for running this service. Guildford is considered by the board to be the best centre for the cytology service. The board intends as soon as possible—although there may be some delay because these technicians are not easily come by—to increase its staff by one technician, which will make a considerable improvement.

asked the Minister of Health if he will make special financial provisions available to regional hospital boards so that the cervical cytology service can be expanded.

I have asked regional hospital boards to give special consideration to the development of this service. I have not earmarked special funds for this purpose in my allocations to boards since it is for them to decide how their revenue allocations, which are reviewed and increased each year, should be spent.

In view of the growing importance of preventive medicine, would it not greatly assist the regional hospital boards if the Minister made a special allocation for all forms of preventive medicine, including screening for cervical cancer? Is it not a fact that the present financial allocation makes it impossible for all women at risk from cervical cancer to get tests and he treated to prevent this horrible disease?

No, Sir. I would not accept the latter part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question. As she knows, the key to the further expansion of this service rests in the training of staff. Very good progress is being made here and, for example, by the end of last December 380 technicians had been specially trained in cytology compared with 150 12 months before. If I were to make a special allocation to boards for preventive health purposes I would have to reduce their allocations for other purposes. I think that it is best to leave the distribution of their resources to the boards themselves.

In view of the right hon. Gentleman's reply, how is it possible that some voluntary organisations, such as the one I run, are able to give this service when his Ministry cannot? Is he aware that we can find technicians who are able to give this service when women need this attention?

I know there are one or two voluntary services in progress, but it is very important that this service should be developed in association with hospital pathological laboratories.

asked the Minister of Health why a decision on the future use of the Pinewood Hospital buildings near Wokingham was not made by 7th May as requested by the hon. Member for Wokingham.

I would refer the mon. Member to my reply to his supplementary question on 2nd May. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has not yet completed his consideration of the matter.

Does not the Minister appreciate that if these buildings, for which he has responsibility at present, are to be used for educational purposes it is vitally necessary to make an urgent decision so that arrangements can he made for the autumn term, and that this is the reason for my complaint urging him to make a decision?

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concern about this. I assure him that the future use of the buildings will be decided as soon as my right hon. Friend has made up his mind whether or not he wants the property transferred to him. In any case, I understand that the hon. Gentleman has a Question down to my right hon. Friend on this matter.

asked the Minister of Labour how many places were available for training and retraining at the training centres in the north-east development districts during the year ended 31st March.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cleveland (Mr. Tinn) on 25th April, 1966.

Does my hon. Friend think that the number of places in training centres is adequate, in view of the contraction in the coal-mining industry, which is likely to be accelerated with the discovery of gas in the North Sea?

My Ministry is aware of the importance of the problem raised by my hon. Friend. By the end of next year, the new training centre at Killingworth will be opened and will provide some 200 additional places. In addition, other centres in the North-East will be enlarged. As a result, my right hon. Friend hopes to be producing 1,600 skilled men from Government training centres in the North-East by the end of next year.

Is my hon. Friend aware that her right hon. Friend told me some time ago that he was quite content with the number of training and retraining centres? Will she be good enough to inform him that I have said this afternoon that I am not satisfied?

I know that my right hon. Friend will take his right hon. Friend's remarks very much into account, but the expansion is going forward, and my Department would like to see what effect this has on the position in the North-East.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will make a statement, to the latest convenient date, of the state of unemployment in the city and county of Aberdeen, during the last five years by industries and sexes.

As the reply consists of a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

While thanking the Parliamentary Secretary for her promise of publication in the OFFICIAL REPORT, may I ask her what steps her Ministry is taking to eliminate unemployment entirely from Aberdeen?

There has been a consistent fall in the figures of unemployment in both Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in recent years, and the rate of unemployment in this area is now 1·8 per cent.