HC Deb 13 December 1977 vol 941 cc147-8W
Mr. Cope

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, from international sources available to him, he will set out the number of qualified doctors per 100,000 population, the number of medically-qualified diagnostic radiologists per 100,000 population and the number of such radiologists in training per 100,000 population for each of the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the USSR.

Mr. Moyle

The table below shows the figure for 1970—the most recent year for which comparable data for different countries is available. It should be stressed that there are differences in definition from country to country and that the work done by medically non-qualified staff or by doctors in training varies. Moreover, referral practices may be expected to vary from country to country. The available figures do not distinguish qualified doctors from doctors in training and do not always distinguish diagnostic from therapeutic radiology. The figures in the table refer to both subspecialties therefore; where separate figures for diagnostic radiology are known, they are given in brackets. No comparable figures are available for Australia.

Country Doctors per 100,000 Radiologists per 100,000
Canada 145 4.4
France 134 4.5
Germany 172 2.9
Sweden 142 8.1 (5.5)
United Kingdom 129 2.6 (1.9)
United States of America 158 6.5
United Socialist Soviet Republic 238 9.9

Note: The United Kingdom figure refers to doctors in the National Health Service Hospital Service only.