§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has of the additional cost of upgrading 500 currently employed senior registrars to consultant grade, assuming no accompanying increase in junior staff and no overtime payments for the new consultants.
§ Mr. NewtonThe average salary cost of a whole-time equivalent senior registrar is estimated to be some £21,000 at 1984–85 prices, and of a consultant some £32,000. The long-run net salary cost of replacing a senior registrar post by a consultant will therefore be about £11,000 (in the short term it will be rather smaller because newly appointed consultants will start at or near the bottom of the incremental scale). These costs include the employer's contribution to superannuation and national insurance, but exclude wider effects such as the possible effect of increased throughput.
The Government do not envisage that the changes in the hospital medical staffing proposed in "Achieving a Balance" will require as many as 500 senior registrar posts to be converted to consultant.
"Achieving a Balance" includes a number of other proposals for stimulating the rate of consultant expansion, including a pump priming scheme for 100 new consultant posts in general medicine and related specialties and in general surgery/traumatic and orthopaedic surgery. As my right hon. Friend announced on 5 February, funds have already been set aside for this.