asked the Minister of Health whether he has yet advised hospital authorities to substitute earphones for wireless loudspeakers in public wards.

This was recommended by the Central Health Services Council, and I commended it to hospital authorities in January, 1953. My information is that it has been acted on quite extensively.

Might I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply and express the hope that he will continue to do all he can to ensure that patients who are sent to hospital to get better are not made worse by avoidable noise?

Yes, I think most hospitals are conscious of this, and my impression is that the majority of hospital wards, certainly the acute wards, have already acted on it.