§ Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will appoint a committee for district nurses on the same lines as the committee for hospital nurses.
§ Mr. Moyle:I have recently met representatives of the district nurses to discuss their desire to have a statutory committee for district nursing in the proposed legislation —which the Government still hope to introduce this Session —on the Briggs Committee recommendations for new statutory bodies —i.e., a United Kingdom Central Council and national boards —for nurse education and training. I was able to assure the representatives that the Bill would in fact provide for the establishment of statutory committees of the new bodies for particular fields of nursing and that the Briggs Co-ordinating Committee, which under my chairmanship represents all sections of the nursing and midwifery professions, had now set up a working group to consider the committee structure of the new bodies, with particular reference to district nursing and psychiatric nursing.