§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will inquire into the practice followed in military hospitals of waking the patients to wash them at 5.30 a.m. when breakfast is not served until 8 a.m., the reasons given being that this is for the convenience of the nursing staff; and as this practice, together with the ceaseless noise allowed in the wards, deprives patients of their proper quantum of sleep, whether he will take immediate steps to remedy the position.
Sir J. GriģģI cannot accept my hon. Friend's suggestion that patients in military hospitals do not get sufficient sleep or that the time at which patients are woken is fixed for the convenience of the nursing staff. This staff is limited in numbers and patients must be woken early enough for the necessary duties to be completed. Instructions are, however, being issued to officers commanding military hospitals to ensure that patients are not woken earlier than is necessary, and to remind them of the importance of reducing, as far as possible, the noise and disturbance in the wards during the day.