§ 18. Sir W. Wakefieldasked the Minister of Health if he is now in a position to state the amount of capitation fee doctors are receiving from their patients.
§ Mr. BevanThere is a fund of 18s. 0d. multiplied by 95 per cent. of the civil 1364 population. From this an agreed deduction is made for mileage payments, making the distributable fund about 17s. 5d. multiplied by 95 per cent. of the civil population. The actual payment per person on a doctor's list in any particular Executive Council's area varies with the proportion of the population who are on the lists of that area. I shall not be able to say until after the end of the financial year what was the actual rate payable in each executive council's area.
§ Sir W. WakefieldIs the Minister aware that doctors were expecting that the capitation fee would be 18s. without deductions, and that in certain areas as much as 2s. or 2s. 6d. may be deducted from the 18s.? Could he put that right?
§ Mr. BevanThe hon. Member is quite incorrect. The representatives of the British Medical Association never expected that the capitation rate would not be less than 18s.; they knew that there would be certain agreed deductions from it.
§ Sir W. WakefieldWhatever the Minister may say, the fact remains that the majority of doctors throughout the country are suffering under this misapprehension.
§ Colonel Stoddart-ScottWas not the amount of money available for the doctors agreed to, when it was thought that 18,000 practitioners would come into the scheme? Now that 19,000 have come into the scheme, should not a larger amount of money be available?
§ Mr. BevanThe information of the hon. and gallant Member is incorrect. The doctors are quite adequately represented at the moment, and discussions are taking place between my Ministry and the representatives of the medical profession. Perhaps hon. Members would await the result of those discussions before organising a single pressure lobby.
§ Commander NobleThe Minister said that the actual amount paid varied in different areas; could he say between what limits it varies?
§ Lieut-Colonel ElliotWhen the Minister speaks of a single pressure lobby, will 1365 he avoid making the inflammatory and insulting speeches which he did when the last discussions were under way?
§ Mr. BevanI do not know what the right hon. and gallant Gentleman means by that—[HON. MEMBERS: "We do."]—but probably the Opposition will seek an opportunity of discussing these matters, and I would remind them in advance that they cannot all add to each item and expect the total to be low.