HC Deb 13 March 1905 vol 142 c1202
MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Board has received an application for a licence to incorporate a society for the higher education of nurses, from gentlemen unconnected with medicine or surgery; and, if so, do the Board still adhere to the view expressed in a letter written by the Board on August 6th, 1891, to Dr. Bedford Fenwick, in which it was seated that it appeared to the Board of Trade that they were not competent to determine the very important question connected with the establishment of a register of nurses, which should be settled before the register can be effectively established; and that, under the circumstances, the Board of Trade were unable to grant the desired licence to the Royal British Nurses' Association; and that the Board were convinced that full inquiry (by competent authorities) into all the facts and circumstances of the case, and into the objections that have been raised, should precede any further steps on the part of the Government; and whether, if any change has since taken place in the policy of the Board in dealing with the question of the registration of nurses, he can indicate the nature and grounds of such change.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

An application has been received by the Board of Trade for a licence to incorporate under Section 23 of the Companies Act, 1867, without the word "limited," a society for the higher education of nurses. The proposed memorandum and articles of association which have been submitted to the Board of Trade are subscribed by seven gentlemen, none of whom are members of the medical or surgical profession, one of whom, however, is the Chairman of a London hospital. The Board of Trade propose to hear both the applicants and the objectors to the grant of a licence, and until after such hearing do not propose to come to any decision as to policy or otherwise.

MR. T. M. HEALY

Has any change taken place since the decision of 1891, and if so, what?

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

I do not think we consider ourselves bound by the decision of 1891.