Doctors (Hansard, 21 March 1989)

§ 1. Dr. Blackburn
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors there were (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest available year.

§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. David Mellor)
In 1979 there were 60,764 doctors in the hospital and community health and family practitioner services in England. By 1987, the number was 68,777.

§ Dr. Blackburn
Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that in Dudley health authority during that period medical staff increased by 18 per cent. and more than 25 per cent. more patients were treated? Does not that give the lie to allegations made by trade unions and others about our commitment to the Health Service? Does my hon. and learned Friend also agree that, in view of the reduction in population, the figures are enhanced and outstanding?

§ Mr. Mellor
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing forward the figures for his own health district. What they show is true of so many health districts up and down the country. Public expenditure on the Health Service has risen by two and a half times the increase in public expenditure as a whole. As a result, a number of areas which under previous Governments did not receive a substantial level of funding, now do so. The resources that my hon. Friend quoted give a clear message to the people of Dudley that the National Health Service is safe in our hands.

§ Mr. Fearn
Following publication of the recent White Paper, does the Minister consider that general practitioners in rural and inner city areas will now decrease as a result of those recommendations? What recommenda-tions has the Minister received from those particular practices?

§ Mr. Mellor
There is absolutely no reason for the number of GPs to decrease. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, the number of GPs in England has increased by nearly 20 per cent. in the past 10 years. There are differences between regions in the United Kingdom which mean that some areas have twice as many people per GP as others. However, we are trying to provide incentives for doctors to go to under-doctored areas. It would not make sense to increase provision if such gross disparities still existed.

§ Dame Jill Knight
Without pressing my hon. and learned Friend for exact figures, has the increase in other medical experts—such as nurses, midwives, dentists and specialists—been at a fairly similar rate?

§ Mr. Mellor
My hon. Friend is quite right—the increase in dentists is almost precisely the same as the increase in GPs. The increase in nurses—of about 60,000—is also broadly similar. If, when referring to specialists, my hon. Friend was thinking of consultants, we are committed to achieve a balance and, over the next 10 years, to increase the number of consultants by 5,000. That will dramatically improve the position in most hospitals.