§ SIR ELLIOTT LEES (Birkenhead)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that officers and men invalided home by medical boards at Johannesburg and Pretoria have to pass additional boards at Bloemfontein and Cape Town; and if invalided home from the front in order to undergo operations in England are occasionally detained for weeks at Wynberg Hospital, near Cape Town; whether, in the interest of the patient and the taxpayers, orders could be given that all patients about to undergo operations in England should be sent home with as little delay as possible; and whether, in all cases, the number of medical boards before which invalided officers and men have to pass prior to being sent home can be reduced.
§ MR. BRODRICKI am not aware that persons invalided home are examined by more than one board, except in cases where the patient on his way to the coast develops further illness, and has to undergo examination with a view to the extension of his sick-leave. The information at my disposal tends to show that patients are not detained unnecessarily at Wynberg. I will, however, draw the attention of the Commander-in-Chief in South Africa to the points raised by the question with a view to his taking such action as may be deemed necessary.
§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)Did Lord Milner have to pass an examination by this board before he came home on leave?
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order!