§ 37. Mr. Fenner Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for War what steps he is taking to ensure adequate supervision in the Army Medical Service.
§ Mr. HeadMeasures to improve the supply of experienced medical officers are under urgent consideration.
§ Mr. BrockwayIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that when I drew the attention of his Department to a very serious case of medical neglect, the Under-Secretary of State for War replied by letter on 28th July as follows:
We have to accept over 900 young and inexperienced National Service medical officers whose work it is impossible adequately to supervise with the relatively small numbers of Regular service medical officers now available, and as a result I am afraid it is inevitable that from time to time complaints of this nature will rise.Is the right hon. Gentleman further aware that my hands are full of letters which have come from all over the country describing such absence of proper medical treatment?
§ Mr. HeadThe young National Service doctors have done a very good job, and I would like to pay a tribute to them. I think the supervision is being carried out extremely well with the numbers available, though we are anxious to increase them.