§ Mr. Will Owenasked the Minister of Health what is the number of vacant beds in hospitals under the National Health Service; and what steps are being taken to secure nursing staff so that the full hospital services can be made available to the public.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonCurrent figures are not available centrally. Recruitment is the responsibility of the hospital authorities and I am continuing the national nursing publicity campaign which is designed to support their efforts. The response to the campaign has so far been encouraging.