§ Mr. Liddallasked the Home Secretary whether, owing to the difficulties of travel and the serious loss of time thereby by professional people when carrying out their duties under the Industrial Diseases Section of the Workmen's Compensation Act, particularly in the large county of Lincoln, he will consider the appointment of more certifying surgeons under the Factories Acts and giving lists of them to approved societies and other interested parties?
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§ Mr. H. MorrisonI appreciate that travelling facilities are restricted at the present time, but no complaints have been received from examining surgeons as to the difficulty of carrying out their duties under the Workmen's Compensation Act on this account. If my hon. Friend cares to send me particulars of the instances which have been brought to his notice I shall be glad to consider whether anything further can be done. I may point out, however, that there are already 37 examining surgeons for the county of Lincoln and that, owing to shortage of medical practitioners and consequent pressure of other duties, it is not easy to find suitable candidates even to fill vacancies which arise from time to time. Circulation of the list, as my hon. Friend suggests, is undesirable, especially in war-time, since it soon becomes out of date, but the name and address of the examining surgeon for any district can be obtained from the district Inspector of Factories, whose address can be found in the telephone directory.