§ Sir R. Gowerasked the Minister of Health what wages are paid, respectively, to the nurses employed in the first-aid post services and to ordinary hospital or public health nurses; and what is the reason for the differentiation.
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§ Mr. WillinkIn the First Aid Post Service, nursing auxiliaries are paid at the same rate as women in other Civil Defence (General) Services (of which the First Aid Post Service is part), namely, £2 15s. weekly, with additional service pay for completed years of service, and trained nurses are paid at the rate of approximately £3 14s. 1d. weekly. It is not practicable to set out within the scope of a Parliamentary answer the various rates of pay prevailing in the hospital and public health services for nurses of the various grades; but they are set out in the First and Second Reports of the Nurses Salaries Committee (Cmd. 6424 and Cmd. 6487) and, so far as members of the Civil Nursing Reserve are concerned, in the memorandum setting out the conditions and terms of service of the Reserve. The rates of pay in the First Aid Post Service, which are kept under regular review, are determined in the light of the general conditions prevailing in the Civil Defence (General) Services. These conditions, as my hon. Friend will appreciate, differ substantially from those of nurses in the other services he mentions.