Oral Answers to Questions — British Army. – in the House of Commons at on 8 April 1941.
Miss Ward:
asked the Secretary of State for War how many women hold commissioned rank in the Royal Army Medical Corps; and why female personnel for the Auxiliary Territorial Service are examined by Royal Army Medical Corps doctors and male personnel by civilian doctors?
Mr Richard Law
, Kingston upon Hull South West
Eighty women hold commissioned rank in the Royal Army Medical Corps. The Ministry of Labour are responsible for the medical examination of men called up for the three Services under the National Service (Armed Forces) Acts as part of their general responsibility for the calling-up arrangements. As the Ministry of Labour are not responsible for the medical examination of recruits for the Auxiliary Territorial Service, this examination is normally carried out by Royal Army Medical Corps women doctors, but, if a Royal Army Medical Corps doctor is not available, a woman civilian medical practitioner is employed. I see no objection to this arrangement which works well in practice and is calculated to secure the most economical use of medical personnel.
Miss Ward:
In view of the fact that the system has been in operation for not more than one month, would my hon. Friend say what caused the War Office to change their practice, and may I have an assurance that when women are directed into the A.T.S. by the Ministry of Labour the examination will be performed by civilian personnel and not by R.A.M.C. personnel?
Mr Richard Law
, Kingston upon Hull South West
I do not know what the hon. Lady means by saying that this practice has been carried out for only a month. The Ministry of Labour has always been responsible for medical boards for men being called up under the National Service (Armed Forces) Acts.
Miss Ward:
Is my hon. Friend not aware that civilian doctors in the London area received from the War Office 24 hours' notice of the substitution of R.A.M.C. doctors for civilian doctors? I am not referring to men at all.
Mr Richard Law
, Kingston upon Hull South West
My hon. Friend's Question relates to men. It is true that R.A.M.C. doctors were substituted for civilian doctors The reason is that the R.A.M.C. doctors became available where they had not been available before.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
