HC Deb 02 April 1947 vol 435 cc2008-10
2. Mr. Somerville Hastings

asked the Secretary of State for Air what peacetime conditions in the R.A.F. make necessary a 30 per cent. increase in the medical personnel over wartime strength.

Mr. P. Noel-Baker

Since the end of the war, the R.A.F. has taken over some hospital work from the Army; it now depends largely on short-term medical officers, who must start by sharing their work with an experienced man. The numbers on each station have decreased, but medical officers are still required. Nevertheless, as I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for North Hendon (Mrs. Ayrton Gould) a week ago, I share the anxieties expressed by my hon. Friend, and I propose to consider the matter again in consultation with my right hon. Friends.

Mr. Hastings

Is my right hon. Friend convinced that the conditions which he has described warrant such a heavy increase as 30 per cent. over wartime strength?

Mr. Noel-Baker

I think they more than explain the increase. Whether we ought to have made a greater effort to reduce below the level which we have now reached, is exactly the question which I am going to reconsider with the other Service Ministers.

Mr. Gammans

Is it true that there is a 30 per cent, increase as compared with wartime—

Mr. Noel-Baker

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Gammans

—now that there are no casualties to be considered?

Mr. Noel-Baker

The rate was 2.29 per 1,000 in May, 1945, and it is now 3.03. The Army have gone down a little and the Navy have gone up a little. All are substantially above the agreed rate.

12. Mrs. Ayrton Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that young medical officers, who are called up as soon as they are qualified, are posted to isolated camps, where they can get practically no clinical experience, and where there is little work of any kind for them to do; that often they remain in these posts for a year or more; and if he will see that, after the first six months, every medical conscript shall serve the rest of his time under conditions that will provide the necessary experience to enable him to fill a civilian post in his profession efficiently on his release.

Mr. P. Noel-Baker

I understand that doctors have at least six months' work in hospital after they are qualified and before they are called up for the R.A.F. Many of them are then posted to stations, some of which, no doubt, are isolated; but I would remind my hon. Friend that it is on the stations that most of the medical work of the R.A.F. is done. All general hospitals in the R.A.F., however, organise regular clinical meetings, to which medical officers of surrounding stations are invited. In this way, most of our doctors can improve their knowledge, if they feel that their ordinary work does not give them experience enough.

Mrs. Gould

Is my right hon. Friend aware that a number of these young medical officers have been posted to isolated stations for over a year, where they have not yet had half an hour's work a day to do, and in some cases have never had the opportunity of performing any sort of clinical work which could not have been done by a child of 10?

Mr. Noel-Baker

If my hon. Friend will give me particulars of special cases I will see if there is anything I can do.