HL Deb 24 January 1946 vol 138 cc1120-2WA
THE EARL OF MANSFIELD

asked His Majesty's Government if they are aware that a number of hospitals have been compelled to close one or more wards owing to the acute shortage of nursing staff, and even by so doing are unable to avoid the necessity of their nurses working such long hours that their health suffers, and the comfort of the patients is affected: what steps the Government are taking to remedy this, and if they are prepared at once to close all redundant military hospitals, and transfer from these, and from other military hospitals having nursing staff in excess of requirements, a sufficiency of nurses to ease the present intolerable situation existing in many civil hospitals.

THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (THE EARL OF LISTOWEL)

The Government are aware of the facts stated in the first part of the question and have already taken certain measures to increase the supply of nurses. In October last a code of working conditions was drawn up in agreement with representatives of all the organizations concerned with the Hospital Service and is set out in a published statement entitled "Staffing the Hospitals," copies of which have been made available in the Printed Paper Office.

Among the measures taken since the publication of the statement are:

  1. (1) the adoption as at January 1, 1946, of the improved scales of salaries recommended by the Nurses Salaries Committees for Trained Nurses and Assistant Nurses and corresponding improvements in the salaries of members of the Civil Nursing Reserve;
  2. (2) the establishment of a new class of the Civil Nursing Reserve, the members of which will be available for service in an emergency;
  3. (3) improved conditions of service for the Civil Nursing Reserve, including additional leave for certain classes, additional cheap travel facilities for mobile members, and payment for part-time service;
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  5. (4) arrangements for the release from the Women's Auxiliary Services in Class B of women who are willing to volunteer for training as nurses up to a maximum of 2,000. Special allowances have been made available for men and women who on leaving the Forces or other forms of national service take up student nursing;
  6. (5) approval of the Rule of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales governing the future training of assistant nurses, followed by a request to hospital authorities to consider urgently the establishment of training schools for such nurses so as to maintain and improve the supply;
  7. (6) a circular to hospital authorities urging the increased employment of male nurses, with special reference to those returning from H.M. Forces, and the establishment of more training schools for men.
National and local publicity campaigns are being carried on continuously with the object of attracting men and women to the nursing profession, and since these began increasing numbers have come forward for training.

The powers of direction and control of engagement of nurses and other persons who have had more than one year's recent nursing experience and of midwives have not been relaxed from December 20 last, as in the case of other men and women, but are being retained for six months beyond that date, but no longer, with the object of ensuring as far as possible that nurses and midwives are distributed between the various health services according to need.

I understand from my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for War that military hospitals are being closed or reduced in size as quickly as equipped beds become surplus to requirements, and that. nursing officers are being released from the Army according to a planned programme which is based on bare sufficiency being retained for the nursing requirements of the Army. Over 3,100 nursing officers of the Q.A.I.M.N.S. and some 2,000 V.A.Ds. had been released or discharged up to the end of December, 1945, but it cannot, of course, be said whether. all of these will become available for civilian nursing.

House adjourned at seven minutes past four o'clock.