§ MR. W. J. CORBET (Wicklow, E.)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he can state why Army Medical Officers are placed on a footing with Departmental or non-combatant officers, and disqualified from reckoning time on half-pay towards promotion or retirement, in view of the fact that they are required by the Regulations to go under fire, and in time of war, do so?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)There are several reasons why medical officers do not count time on half-pay towards promotion and retirement, as combatant officers do. In the first place, the early voluntary retirement of a combatant officer is often an economy to the public, and the means of saving another officer from compulsory retirement at a comparatively early age. This does not apply in the Medical Staff, where there is no compulsory retirement before the age of 55, and it is desirable to retain trained medical officers as long as they continue efficient. Moreover, the retired pay of medical officers is on a more liberal scale than that of combatant officers.