asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what qualifications are required for the post of physiological measurement technicians (audiology) in National Health Service hospitals.

To qualify as a trained physiological measurement technician, a person must have had either two years' experience as a student physiological measurement technician, during which he has undertaken an organised course of training recommended by the Secretary of State and obtained a certificate from the physician in charge of the department that he is sufficiently trained and proficient to perform the full duties of the technician grade, or must have satisfactorily completed any other course of training which is considered equivalent by the Whitley Council's Joint Secretaries.