§ 43. Mr. Raphael Tuckasked the Minister of Health how many qualified State-registered medical laboratory technicians have been declared redundant by their hospital management committees over the last three years.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonMy Department is normally notified only when redundancy payments are made; there is no record of payments in respect of medical laboratory technicians.
§ Mr. TuckDoes my hon. Friend accept the fact that there have been redundancies, and how can he reconcile this with the fact that whenever there is curtailment of service to the public, the excuse always is that there is a shortage of skilled medical laboratory staff?
§ Mr. RobinsonI can assure my hon. Friend that I understand that there have not been redundancies in this grade. I understand that there is a laboratory in his constituency which is shortly to be closed and that the future of one registered technician is under consideration by the hospital authority.