§ 9. Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Minister of Health the number of unfilled vacancies for psychiatric social workers in the National Health Service; and what steps he is taking to stimulate recruitment and to provide additional training facilities for psychiatric social workers.
§ Mr. TurtonI have no figures of vacancies. £8,000 has been made available by my Department annually since 1949–50 in grants to students training as psychiatric social workers.
§ Mr. RobinsonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the shortage is so acute that many hospital authorities and local health authorities have given up even advertising these posts? Does he not agree that psychiatric social workers are absolutely essential to the development of any modern mental health service?
§ Mr. TurtonUntil I have received the Report of the Working Party recently set up to consider the place of social workers in the local authority service, I do not feel able to estimate the need or consider what additional facilities should be made available.