§ Mr. CallaghanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of general practitioners per 1,000 population for(a) England and Wales and (b) the Greater Manchester area.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe number of general practitioners per 1,000 population for England and Wales at 1 October 1988 (the latest data for which figures are available) was 0.54. The figure at 1979 was 0.46.
The information requested is collected from family practitioner committees (FPCs), which are not necessarily coterminous with metropolitan boundaries. The number of GPs per 1,000 population in the areas covered by the FPCs which cover the Greater Manchester metropolitan area was 0.51 at 1 October 1988 and 0.44 at 1 October 1979.