§ 49. Mr. Ripponasked the Minister of Health how many general practitioners are under contract in the National Health Service; and the average number of visits paid by patients to general practitioners and by general practitioners to patients during the latest period for which information is available.
§ Mr. Vaughan-MorganThe number of general practitioners under contract to provide unrestricted general medical services under the National Health Service in England and Wales on 1st July, 1956, was 19,082.
Exact information is not available on the second part of the Question but various surveys, none of them very recent, have indicated that the average number 166W of visits by patients may be in the region of three a year, and by doctors in the region of two.