asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take to avoid the collapse of patient services provided by members of professions supplementary to medicine if the report No. 4 of the standing commission were implemented and the hours of work were increased or the salary reduced.

The implementation of the recommendations in report No. 4 of the standing commission will not, in practice, require any member of the professions concerned to increase their hours or to suffer a reduction in salary. This has been made quite clear in recent discussions within the professional and technical "A" Whitley council. There would seem no reason, therefore, to anticipate a collapse of patient services provided by the staff concerned, particularly in view of the further increases in pay which have still to be negotiated and which will also apply with effect from 1 April.