§ 46. Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the annual publication cost of Health Trends; what is its circulation; what detailed evidence exists of its readership; and if he will undertake an inquiry into rationalising his department's publication so that Health Trends could be incorporated into other publications.
§ Mr. DeakinsProduction and distribution costs are estimated to be about £50,000 per annum. These have not risen above the level for 1975–76 as a result of economy measures.
About 60,000 copies of each issue are produced. They go to virtually all doctors in the National Health Service; deans of medical schools; postgraduate medical centre libraries; and senior nursing officers and administrators who ask for it. It also has a small subscription list.
As reported in the February 1976 issue of Health Trends, an independent sample survey, to which the response rate was 59 per cent., showed that 54 per cent. of responders claimed to read all or most issues, while only 12 per cent. said that they never read the journal. In the light of a review of the outcome of this survey, the Department concluded that it has a continuing need for a means of communicating with the medical profession generally. In particular, the activities of the Department and the policies on which the NHS is being developed need to be better understood and the relevant statistical and other information made readily available to doctors. These conclusions confirmed and reinforced the findings of an earlier detailed study by a working party which resulted directly in the introduction of Health Trends.