§ MR. BRAMSDON (Portsmouth)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the following deaths under anæstheties: Kathleen Lee at Ryde, in the Isle of Wight, on 25th November; Robert Henry Harland, of Plough Court, E.C., on 25th November; and William List Smith at Southampton, on 3rd December; whether he has yet received the contemplated reply from the President of the General Medical Council to the communication addressed 1225 to him, and the nature of such reply; and whether, having regard to the number of deaths that are constantly occurring in all parts of the country of persons whilst under anæsthetics, he will consider the advisability of recommending the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) My attention has not been called to the cases mentioned, except by my hon. friend's Question. I have now received, through the Lord President of the Council, a reply from the General Medical Council. The Council does not see its way to support legislation to make practical training in the use of anæsthetics a compulsory part of medical education, but it is communicating with the several licensing bodies as to how far they have given effect to the Council's recommendations on this subject.