§ 8. Mr. Dobbieasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is satisfied with the medical examination given to young girls when they are called to the Forces and whether any attention is paid to information supplied by the family doctor when there has been a long illness of the recruit prior to the call up; and whether he will have an inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Private J. Baldwin, Army Pay Corps, W/163813, and the cause of her death within a short period of her being passed for service in spite of the note from the family doctor which drew attention to her bad state of health?
§ The Secretary of State for War (Sir James Grigg)The answer to the first two parts of the Question is "Yes, Sir." The particular case to which my hon. Friend refers has been investigated. I understand that the medical certificate submitted by Private Baldwin's family practitioner was considered by the medical board. As a result of the examination she was considered to have a second class constitution, and she was graded accordingly. After she had been in the A.T.S. for two months she came under medical observation from time to time, and at the end of September she was admitted to hospital for investigation. An exhaustive examination then showed that she was suffering from cancer of the lung. I understand that this disease may be insidious in its early stages and in a young person may develop very quickly. The disability referred to in the medical certificate submitted by Private Baldwin's family practitioner was unconnected with the cause of her death.
§ Mr. McKinlayIs it not about time that we had a medical board to examine the medical boards?
§ Sir J. GriggThe hon. Member had better address that question to the Minister of Labour, because he runs the medical boards.