§ 56. Mr. BARNESasked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he is aware that the men in the medical mess service are working on a basis of a seventy-two hours week of seven days' work; and if he can arrange to have the hours reduced or pay increased so as to place the men on a forty-eight hours' basis?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAIt is only at Chatham that the hours are as long as those mentioned by my hon. Friend, the hours at Haslar and Plymouth being sixty-one and sixty, respectively. Steps are being taken to reduce the hours at Chatharn to the level of the other big hospitals. The men are paid for seven days a week, and owing to the nature of their duties, I do not think the case is one in which the forty-eight hours' basis can 'be made strictly applicable.