MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the guardians of the Trim Union have a night nurse whose hours of duty are ten hours a night for seven nights in the week, and is also bound by the guardians to attend all maternity cases in the day time, as there is no qualified day nurse for the maternity ward; has this fact been brought under the notice of the Local Government Board; and what action, if any, has the Board taken in the matter.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURThe reply to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. The hours of duty of the night nurse, from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., are not as a rule objected to by night nurses. The duty devolving on the night nurse of attending on maternity cases is seldom exercised. Only six cases of the kind have occurred during the last fifteen months. The attention of the Local Government Board has recently been drawn to the matter, and they have called upon the Medical Officer for a report as to the nursing arrangements in the workhouse. This report has not yet been received.