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within the Ministry of Defence for co-ordinating and rationalising
medical and dental matters. Principal amongst these was the
suggestion that the Defence Medical Services Co-ordinating
Committee should assume a new importance and that the Chief of
Personnel and Logistics should be appointed as its Chairman.
proposal has been accepted and during the last 18 months the
Committee has been over-seeing work on all aspects of the Report's
recommendations.
This
34. Some of the Report's many recommendations have been accepted
and implemented without delay but others are essentially long-term
and, even if accepted in principle, cannot be implemented for some
years. Further recommendations are more in the nature of general
guidance than specific proposals. In the Report, the recommendations
were grouped under broad headings, such as those relating to doctors,
dentists, nurses, hospitals and training establishments. They are
being studied under these headings within the Ministry of Defence
and reports on each group of recommendations some interim, some
final have been received by the Defence Medical Services
Co-ordinating Committee. Two-thirds of the recommendations have
now been accepted; in a few cases the acceptance has had to be
qualified. A small number of recommendations has not been accepted;
and work is still proceeding on the remainder.
J
35. It has been agreed that there should be substantial reduction in the
total number of beds provided in Service hospitals over the next
ten years;
the final figure in relation to the Defence Review has
yet to be established
but we expect the present number to be
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