§ Mr. KINGasked by what authority is the Central Medical War Committee compelling all single medical men of military age, under threat of Conscription, to enroll themselves as ready to enter the Royal Army Medical Corps and to place their services at the disposal of this Committee acting under direction of the War Office?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe Committee referred to is taking no such action as is alleged in the question. It has circularised medical men in England and Wales, explaining and emphasising the need of more doctors for the R.A.M.C, and it has brought to their notice an enrolment scheme, under which any man below forty-five years of age who is willing to take a commission (if offered him) in the R.A.M.C. can secure that his application will be taken up by the War Office at the most suitable time, regard being had both to his particular circumstances and to the medical needs of the civil population in the area where he practises. In all these activities the Committee has been giving very valuable assistance to the War Office, and has been working in intimate relations with the various Government Departments concerned.
§ Mr. KINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the Central Medical War Committee, whose members are appointed, elected, or co-opted by the British Medical Association, is regarded as truly representative of the whole medical profession; whether he is aware that there are numbers of medical men who are not members of that association; and whether the doctors who are needed to 905W attend to the civil population are receiving by this arrangement adequate consideration.
§ Mr. TENNANTI would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 12th January last in reply to a similar question from the hon. Member for Plymouth. I need only add to-day that since that date the Committee has been still further strengthened, and that the civilian aspects of the whole matter, to which the hon. Member refers in the concluding paragraph of his question, are amongst the main preoccupations of the Committee working in conjunction with the Government Departments involved.
§ Mr. KINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the failure of the Army Medical Department to utilise effectively the medical services which have been freely offered to the Army, it is the present policy of the Government to permit the Central Medical War Committee to portion out the supply of medical aid to the industrial community, including munition workers, upon whose energy we are so dependent; and whether, in order to secure the health of the civilian population, the medical profession will in future be classed, like clergymen, as a reserved occupation?
§ Mr. TENNANTNo, Sir, I am not aware of any such failure. Such a word seems quite out of place in commenting on the work of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The Committee referred to has collected valuable information as to the existing and prospective provision of medical services for the industrial community and is endeavouring to assist various members of the profession in bringing about such rearrangements and co-operation as may facilitate the most effective distribution of those services where needed. Information as to the present condition of medical provision in England does not afford any grounds for resorting to the sweeping measures suggested in the concluding paragraph of the hon. Member's question.