HC Deb 24 November 1925 vol 188 cc1171-2W
Brigadier-General BROOKE

asked the Minister of Pensions how many applications for a pension on account of tuberculosis have been disallowed on the ground that the men were suffering from this malady before entering the Army, although their condition was not diagnosed at the time of recruitment?

Lieut.-Colonel STANLEY

My hon. and gallant Friend is under a misapprehension in supposing that claims to pension for tuberculosis or any other disease have been rejected on the sole ground that the applicant is found to have suffered from the disease prior to enlistment. The question to be determined in such cases is whether or not the conditions of the applicant's War service adversely affected, and still continue to affect, the disablement, if any, resulting from the disease, and it is on the answer to this question that the award or refusal of pension depends.

Captain FAIRFAX

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many officers and men have been discharged from His Majesty's Navy since the Armistice suffering from tuberculosis; how many have been treated in sanatoria; out of this number, how many have recovered and how many have died; and in how many instances did a medical board find that the disability was due to service?

Mr. DAVIDSON,

pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 19th November. 1925, col. 589], supplied the following figures:

1925 (to 30th September) … 155
of which number six were attributable to or aggravated by the service.

1924 … … … … 155
of which number six were attributable to or aggravated by the service.

1923 … … … … 149
of which number three were attributable to or aggravated by the service.

1922 … … … … 192
of which number 76 were attributable to or aggravated by the service.

1921 … … … … 265
1920 … … … … 265
1919 … … … … 457

I would point out that the final decision as to attributability from the date of the Armistice until 30th September, 1921, rested with the Ministry of Pensions, to whom I would refer my hon. Friend. I regret that I have no information as regards the second and third parts of the question.