§ Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will examine whether speech therapy could be treated as a separate and autonomous profession within the National Health Service.
§ Dr. VaughanI am not sure what the hon. Member has in mind. One of the aims of the Quirk committee on speech therapy services, which reported in 1972, was to establish the proper degree of professional independence and the points at which co-operation with other professions is essential. Their recommendations on this have been accepted by successive Governments and are, I believe, widely accepted in the field by those responsible for the management and development of NHS service.