§ 116. Mr. Malcolm MacPhersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that a large proportion of those girls who, on leaving school, wish to enter some form of nursing are unable to do so, largely owing to the rules for recruitment, and are in consequence lost to the nursing profession; and, in view of the continuing short age of nurses, whether he will inquire into, and seek to remedy, this situation.
Commander GalbraithWhile the rules of the General Nursing Council fix minimum ages for admission to final examinations and to the various forms of State registration, hospitals are not forbidden to employ girls below any specified age, and I am aware that girls of 15 and 16 are not uncommonly employed at cottage hospitals in country districts. It is, however, generally considered that the attendance of young girls at pre-nursing courses provided by education authorities is preferable in their own interests to their employment an hospital staffs.