§ 5. Mr. Sorensenasked the Minister of Labour whether in view of the increasing strain imposed on hospital nursing staffs, he will enable nurses attached to industrial establishments to be transferred to hospitals if they so desire, as many of those nurses cannot now secure this permission.
§ Mr. BevinIn order to strengthen the staff of the hospitals in the near future, I am arranging, with the co-operation of industrial nurses and their employers, that there shall be loans of services of a proportion of these nurses from factories where they can best be spared. I have also recently reviewed the cases of the younger women employed as industrial nurses, with a view to their transfer to hospital work. My general policy is to allow industrial nurses to be released for hospital work, if they so desire, subject to the need, in some cases, for providing substitutes beforehand.
§ Mr. SorensenWhile expressing appreciation of the Minister's reply, may I ask him whether these industrial nurses who have applied to be transferred to hospital but who, heretofore, have been refused, can now make a fresh application?