§ Mr. John Leeasked the Minister of Health what were the total numbers of fatalities from drowning and other accidents on the River Thames between Goring and Henley for the years 1950, 1960, 1965, 1966 and 1967; and in how many cases such fatalities occurred in that stretch of the river which passes through or abuts on the borough of Reading.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonI regret that the information asked for cannot be provided for the years 1950 and 1960 without disproportionate expense. Data for 1963–67 are given in the following table. No record has been traced of a fatality on the river from a cause other than drowning during the period.
this service, whether he will take steps to improve it; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonNurse education is the responsibility of the General Nursing Council, but in a memorandum issued last year I gave hospital authorities my views on measures they should take to secure improvements. I have increased the money available to the Council for nurse education and given it funds for a small research unit and for the payment of course fees of trainee tutors. I am also giving financial aid to a limited number of experimental schemes of training.
There were 1,136 whole-time and 46 part-time qualified tutors in hospitals at 30th September, 1967; the number of 167W qualified tutors has been slowly increasing for the last three years, but there is a shortage. My Department, the General Nursing Council and the Royal College of Nursing are jointly studying the numbers and pattern of teaching staff required to meet current and foreseeable needs for training student and pupil nurses.
The salary scales for nurse tutors are a matter for the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council and in the debate on 1st July I explained the effect of the recommendations of the National Board for Prices and Incomes.