Tuberculosis Nurses (Industrial Injuries Scheme)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 March 1951.

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Mr. Taylor:

I bow to your Ruling, Mr. Speaker. When the Industrial Injuries Bill was before the House five years ago, the Government were pressed to include in the Bill a specific provision that it should apply to nurses who contracted tuberculosis. The actual specification of diseases to be covered by the Act was left by Parliament to be done by Regulations and the Government undertook to give this question careful consideration.

I hope I shall be in order if I refer to the Dale Report. Early in 1947, the present Colonial Secretary, then the Minister of National Insurance, appointed a Departmental Committee to advise him on the principles which should cover the selection of diseases for insurance under the Industrial Injuries Act. I know that in doing this my right hon. Friend had particularly in mind tuberculosis among nurses. This Committee reported in 1948, and among other things recommended that a primary consideration in prescribing a disease under the Act should be whether the disease is "specific to the occupations of the persons concerned, or if it is not so specific, whether the occupations of those persons cause special exposure to risk of the disease, such risk being inherent in the conditions under which the occupations are carried on."