§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, will he state if there is still a dearth of suitable candidates for the Army Medical Department, 882 and how many vacancies there are; if the standard of medical and surgical attainment has had to be lowered; and what steps the Secretary of State proposes to take in order to put the department on a better basis?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WARI regret to say there is still a dearth of candidates for the Army Medical Staff. There are at present 38 vacancies, and 21 probationers are available to fill them. The standard of medical and surgical qualification has not been lowered. The steps which it is intended to take in order to put the department on a better basis will shortly be announced.