§ 71. Mr. Sparksasked the Minister of Health the number of nursing staff employed in hospitals at any convenient date in 1938, 1946 and 1948, and to what extent the hospital service is now restricted through shortage of nursing staff.
§ Mr. BevanSeptember, 1938—96,800 (including 800 part-time); September, 1946—111,600 (including 2,600 part-time); September, 1948—132,000 (including 19,000 part-time). The number of hospital beds unstaffed in September, 1948, was 57,000 or about one-ninth of the total number of beds.