§ 50. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the rôle of community physicians since the reorganisation of the National Health Service, especially in the field of health education.
§ Dr. OwenI am satisfied that community medicine as a new and developing medical specialty is already playing a vital part in the management and planning of health services and will increase its influence as those doctors in training in the specialty come forward to take up specialist posts. I want to ensure that greater emphasis is placed on preventive medicine, including health education it future planning and allocation of resources. Community physicians will play a special part in this but health education should be the concern of all who work in the health service and not just community physicians.