§ 27. Mr. Blenkinsopasked the Minister of Health the number of full and part-time specialist appointments made by the 577 Newcastle Regional Hospital Board during each of the years 1949,1950,1951, 1952 and during the six months ended 30th June, 1953; and by how many the specialist hospital staff in this region have increased in each of these years.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available. With permission I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table giving the available information on the second part.
§ Mr. BlenkinsopDoes the right hon. Gentleman agree that the developments in the last two years have not been far greater than in the two years preceding the take-over by the present Government; and is it not highly misleading to give the sort of answer which he gave to Questions on this matter asked last week? Should not such misleading answers be left to his hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Miss Ward)?
§ Mr. MacleodThere was nothing misleading about it. The reply I gave arose out of a supplementary question put to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Miss Ward), which was on
| Date | Whole-time | Part-time | |||
| Number at date in Col. (1) (whole-time equivalents of service given to Board)* | Increase (+) or decrease (−) over previous figures | Number of appointments at date in Column (1)† | Increase (+) or decrease (−) in number of appointments over previous figure | ||
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | |
| 31.12.1949 | … | Comparable figures | not available. | ||
| 1.12.1950 | … | 104 | — | 684 | — |
| 31.12.1951 | … | 169 | +65 | 750 (excluding 8 honorary appointments) | +66 |
| 31.12.1952 | … | 154 | −15 | 791 (excluding 4 honorary appointments) | +41 |
| 31. 3.1953 | … | 152 | −2 | Not available | — |
| 30. 6.1953 | … | Comparable figures | not yet available | Not available | — |
| * These figures represent in terms of whole-time equivalents the amount of service given to the Board by consultants and senior hospital medical and dental officers who are whole-time in the National Health Service. Some whole-time specialists may give part of their time to the Board of Governors. | |||||
| † These figures show the number of separate part-time appointments existing at the various dates—not the number of persons holding them. |
§ the far wider question of capital expenditure and not on the narrow issue of specialist appointments.
§ Mr. BlenkinsopDoes not the Minister agree that in both the capital expenditure and the appointment of specialist staff in a Newcastle area there has been no development of the character he described?
§ Mr. MacleodNo, Sir.
Miss WardWill my right hon. Friend ask the hon. Member for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, East (Mr. Blenkinsop) why it was that when the hon. Member was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health in the Labour Government we could not get a fair allocation of capital expenditure for our region when other regions were getting more than we were and we were being defrauded of the money we ought to have had?
§ Mr. Macleod rose——
§ Following is the table: