§ 22. Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to a coroner's criticism at a Surrey inquest of the telephone service, in which he stated that it was 703 not the first case that had come before him where an urgent summons had been sent through to the telephone exchange during the night and no reply had been received; and what steps he intends to take to render the night telephone service efficient?
§ 23. Mr. R. MORRISONasked the Postmaster-General whether he has held an inquiry into the alleged failure of the night telephone service to which attention was drawn at a recent inquest at Croydon; and what is the result?
§ 27. Sir ROBERT THOMASasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the father of a young man taken ill recently in the early hours of the morning attempted to telephone for a doctor, but failed to get a reply from the exchange, although he tried for three-quarters of an hour; that the coroner subsequently stated that this was not the first case in his experience when the exchange made no reply to an urgent night summons; and whether he will make a general statement on the question of night staffs for telephone exchanges?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI have made full inquiry into this case, and greatly regret to find that there was a failure of the night telephone service on this occasion. It has not been possible to determine the precise cause of the failure, and I can find no record of a similar case in the same locality. A system of periodical testing has been for some time in force at night telephonist exchanges, and the latest records show that the average speed of answer by the operators is satisfactory. I propose to extend this testing system further, and am at present considering the best means of so doing.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that there has been very considerable, almost universal, dissatisfaction with this service for a very long time? Has his attention been called to the specific complaints made by doctors, and, in particular, by the hon. secretary of the blood transfusion service of the Red Cross Society, in which allegations are made about loss of life owing to the delays in this service? Is he doing anything to expedite an inquiry into this matter?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI cannot say that I have an accurate recollection of that particular complaint, but I am aware that there have been complaints and that is the reason why the tests were made. As I have said, the tests show that on the average the speed of answering is not unsatisfactory. The average speed of answering, taken all over, is something like 10 seconds.
§ Sir R. THOMASIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the specific case mentioned the coroner said that it was a very serious case, and was not by any means the first within his knowledge?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI am aware of the statement made by the coroner, who was kind enough to communicate personally with myself, and it is for that reason that special attention was paid to the investigation of the case; but, as I have said, it is impossible to trace the precise fault or failure, and I have no record of any similar case.
§ Sir R. THOMASThe coroner said that he knows of other cases.
§ Mr. DAYIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the night staffs are greatly reduced, and that that is the cause of this delay?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONThere has been no reduction.
§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAIs the Department experimenting with any particular device for dealing with emergency calls?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONOh, yes, and the trouble here was that owing to a mechanical defect it failed to function.