§ Mrs. Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will cease the practice of placing expensive Press advertisements for nursing recruits at a time when there are almost 4,000 unemployed nurses in Great Britain.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe nurse recruitment campaign has been severely cut back to take account of the present situation and I am keeping the levels of expenditure under review. The campaign will not be 729W completely discontinued for three reasons. First, recruitment must be considered in the long term, because interest in the profession is often stimulated in teenagers five years before entry. Second, there are important particular forms of nursing where recruitment is currently necessary. Third, there is a need to increase the supply of the best type of recruit.