HC Deb 06 December 1949 vol 470 cc146-7W
76. Mr. Erroll

asked the Minister of Health the nature and the extent of the investigation which is to be carried out on behalf of his Department in the Sale district between 1st and 16th December by the Social Survey.

Mr. Blenkinsop

The Sale district is being included in the Monthly Survey of Sickness which is now carried out on behalf of the Registrar-General. The Survey, which started in 1944, covers each month a sample of 4,000 persons aged 16 and over and is carried out in areas distributed over the whole of England and Wales selected in such a way as to secure proper representation of different types of area. Interviews are conducted by Social Survey workers at the homes of the persons selected, who voluntarily give information about illnesses and ailments experienced by them during the two months preceding the month of interview.

The purpose of the Survey is to obtain continuous information about the incidence and effect of sickness particularly in fields not covered by other statistics. The results are published in the Registrar-General's Quarterly Returns and further information can be obtained from these returns.