HC Deb 19 December 1955 vol 547 cc1636-7
6. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that doctors' lists in the London area of the National Health Service now contain 8,487 more names than the total population of the area; what the effect is on the cost of the Service; and what steps he is taking to rectify this anomaly.

Miss Horsnby-Smith

My right hon. Friend knows of this estimate; on the second and third parts of the Question he cannot yet add to his reply to the hon. and gallant Member on 25th July.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

Is this not a fantastic situation in which, although the right hon. Gentleman has been warned about it, nothing apparently has been done? What steps is the Ministry taking to ensure that these grossly inflated figures are not tolerated any longer than is absolutely necessary?

Miss Hornsby-Smith

The executive councils and the doctors have been notified, but it is an extremely difficult matter, where no notification has been given, to check and trace immediately people who have died or who have moved from one area to another. The ultimate aim would be to have a central alphabetical index as well as the present numerical one, but it is an extremely difficult task. The hon. and gallant Gentleman will be aware that there are, for example, hundreds of thousands of Smiths with the same initials and, indeed, with the same Christian names, who have to be dealt with. I should like to correct a misapprehension which appears in his Question. This situation does not increase our payments to doctors, as they draw their fees from the general pool.

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