HC Deb 06 March 1967 vol 742 cc1043-4
40. Mr. Pavitt

asked the Minister of Health what is the estimate of the total of expenses to be reimbursed to general practitioners in 1967–68 and the quotient for each practitioner.

The Minister of Heath (Mr. Kenneth Robinson)

About £42 million in Great Britain. This, divided by the estimated number of doctors, gives a quotient of about £1,850.

Mr. Pavitt

Can my right hon. Friend say why it is no longer possible to give a breakdown of the balance which make up the £5,600 gross for the average general practitioner, and what arrangements he is making to have a continuous review in the medical profession on the way that the new payments are working out?

Mr. Robinson

We are conducting a continuous review of the working out of the new payments. As to the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, I should point out to him that, because the new arrangements provide for varying payments to recognise differences in the experience and the commitments and in the practice arrangements of different practitioners, the concept of an average net income which we have used in the past is no longer very meaningful. The figure which can be arrived at by the answers to these two questions of my hon. Friend is not directly comparable to the average net income for 1965–66.

Mr. Dean

Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to keep a close watch on the new payments? Would he agree that there is already some evidence that some G.P.s, particularly the more senior, will do rather badly out of the new arrangements?

Mr. Robinson

No, Sir, I do not think that there is any general evidence of that kind so far, but we are certainly keeping a close watch on the matter.

Mr. Rankin

My right hon. Friend has said that £42 million went to G.P.s in Great Britain. Can he say how much of that sum went to Scottish general practitioners?

Mr. Robinson

What I said was that £42 million was estimated to go during the next financial year. I do not know offhand the proportion applicable to Scotland. Perhaps my hon. Friend will put down a Question to the Secretary of State for Scotland.