§ 31. Squadron-Leader Donnerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether members of the Colonial Civil Service, who are invalided home or have to undergo medical treatment while on leave, can obtain financial assistance towards the cost of treatment, when this is necessitated as a result of injury or disease contracted by the official in the course of his duties in the colony in which he is serving.
Mr. Creech JonesIt is the practice for Colonial Governments to pay the fee for an examination by a consulting physician together with any expenses incurred in the diagnosis of the officer's complaint. Except for those on very low salaries, Colonial civil servants are not entitled to free treatment in this country, but they can get treatment, including operations, at special rates under arrangements made with the Seamen's Hospital Society and the Royal Infirmary, Liverpool. Colonial Governments are usually willing to give sympathetic consideration to applications for assistance from officers whose medical expenses are unduly burdensome.
§ Squadron-Leader DonnerSurely, the whole cost ought to be borne by the Crown?