§ 44. Dr. Segalasked the Minister of Health by what authority local executive councils are empowered to ask a doctor applying for payment of basic salary to submit details of his income from all sources; and if he will give an assurance that a doctor who refuses to divulge these details will be in no way prejudiced when his claim for a basic salary comes up for consideration.
§ Mr. BevanMy view is that it is only the doctor's professional income which should be taken into account in such cases.
§ Dr. SegalWould it not also be advisable to investigate incomes at the other end of the scale, where over-worked doctors may have lists of patients they are unable to cope with and may be receiving now, incomes larger than they ever had before?
§ Mr. BevanI think that is another question entirely. That matter is being reviewed by the Medical Practices Committee and not until we have had a survey of the whole country shall we be in a position to identify those parts where the lists are too large and the areas under-doctored.
§ Mr. RankinIs my right hon. Friend aware that doctors who apply for the basic salary are being told that that basic salary, if paid, is a charge upon their colleagues in the area in which they practise, and does he think that that policy lends itself to a fair interpretation of decision by those colleagues?
§ Mr. BevanIt is a fact that the £300 per year comes out of the general capitation pool—as, indeed, it ought to—because it forms part of a doctor's remuneration. Where, however, the individual doctor is aggrieved, he has the right of appeal to me. Many have appealed and decisions have been given.