§ Mr. BRIDGEMANasked the Secretary to the Treasury why doctors are not paid each quarter the full amount due to them under the National Insurance Act; what means doctors have of recovering arrears due to them; and why in the border parishes they receive mileage pay on the Welsh side but not on the English side for patients distant more than three miles?
§ Mr. MONTAGUIn reply to the first part of the question, the remuneration due to practitioners on the panel under their agreements with insurance committees is ascertainable annually and not quarterly. The quarterly payments are advances on account of remuneration which cannot be determined until after the close of the year, and no quarterly settlement is therefore practicable. As regards the latter part of the question, the distribution of any mileage grant among the doctors in any particular area is largely a matter for those doctors themselves. If, however, the hon. Member has in mind any particular case I should be pleased to make inquiries.