§ Mr. John Wellsasked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to improve the recruitment of technicians of all types in the hospital service; and if he will review their salary structure.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonHospital authorities are responsible for recruitment and numbers are increasing steadily. My Department distributes careers literature. The Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine has the training syllabus of medical laboratory technicians under review; for other classes my Department has recently introduced some new training schemes and others are under consideration. Pay is a matter in the first instance for the Whitley Council; settlements covering all classes have been negotiated in the last 18 months, new grading structures have been introduced for four classes and other claims are under consideration.