§ 26 and 27. Mr. D. Howellasked the Minister of Health (1) how many specialists and consultants employed in the Health Service are receiving merit awards in each of the regions of the service; and what is the cost of these awards;
(2) the minimum and maximum merit awards made to consultants and specialists in the Health Service, giving the figures 2W for both whole-time and part-time practitioners; the average amount of such awards to the recipients; who determines the awards; and what procedure is followed in the making of recommendations and the consideration of qualifications.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe general arrangements for awards are explained in my reply to the Question asked by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ellis Smith) on 21st July, 1958. The number of awards at the end of 1958 was:
Awards at the rate of: £2,500 £1,500 £500 279 698 £1,397 It is estimated that payments made in respect of awards in 1958 totalled approximately £1,986,000.
The number of consultants receiving merit awards in the various regions at the end of 1958 was:—
Hospital Region Number of Award Holders Newcastle … … 137 Leeds … … 111 Sheffield … … 136 East Anglian … … 66 Metropolitan Regions … … 1,216 Oxford … … 98 South Western … … 131 Wales … … 110 Birmingham … … 182 Manchester … … 147 Liverpool … … 95 2,429 The figure for the four metropolitan regions cannot be split as many consultants work in more than one of these regions. For the same reason the total includes some duplication; the number of awards in payment is 2,374.
The minimum sums payable by way of awards are £500 for whole-time consultants and approximately £57 for part-time consultants and the maximum sums are £2,500 for whole-time consultants and approximately £2,160 for part-time consultants. Recipients of awards at the higher rates have their basic salary scale abated.
The average awards payment is estimated to have been about £857 in 1958. This does not take account of the abatement of basic salary that operates with awards at the higher rates.