§ 5. Mr, Ronald Bellasked the Minister of Health what attempts were made by the North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board to obtain sufficient staff to open Iver Cottage Hospital as a maternity unit or as a local general cottage hospital; and with what success.
§ Mr. R. ThompsonI am informed that staff were sought by repeated advertisement; by articles in the local Press; and by personal approaches for assistance in recruiting to local people known to be interested in the hospital. A number of offers of part-time help were made, but it was found impossible to provide the minimum necessary nursing staff.
§ Mr. BellWould not my hon. Friend think that further attempts should be made now, more especially in the light of the Cranbrook Committee's Report? Does my right hon. Friend intend to accept that recommendation which would result in Iver Hospital becoming a maternity hospital?
§ Mr. ThompsonThe difficulty is that recruitment of staff specifically for a maternity hospital would not prove any more easy than under the present arrangement when it was a children's hospital, but we shall continue to do our best.