§ MR. REMNANT (Finsbury, Holborn)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been directed to the recent deaths, by poisoning, of four inmates of the Portsmouth Lunatic Asylum, and to the evidence given at the inquiry by the coroner, disclosing want of care in the dispensing arrangements in that public institution; and whether, in view of the danger to life involved in leaving the important duty of compounding medicines to unqualified persons, steps will be taken by the Department to ensure that every dispensary under the control of a local authority shall be in the charge of a person holding the qualification under the Pharmacy Acts.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) The inquest in this case is not yet concluded; but my hon. friend 535 may be assured that the point to which he draws attention will be carefully considered.