§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is Her Majesty's Government's attitude towards vocational training for general practitioners.
§ Mrs. CastleIn recent years an increasing number of doctors have chosen to undertake a period of vocational training before entering general practice; this trend has been greatly encouraging. The profession has asked that such training should become a statutory requirement for doctors seeking to enter general practice as principals in the National Health Service for the first time.
The Government believe that a development of this kind would contribute significantly to the improvement of standards in primary care, and accordingly, when parliamentary time permits, intend to introduce legislation to enable appropriate provision to be made. Advance notice of the date of implementation of this policy will take account of the need to allow doctors to plan their careers properly.