§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of nephrologists employed in the national health service now, in 1985 and in 1980; and what is the ratio of nephrologists to kidney patients for those three dates.
§ Mr. Dorrell[holding answer 26 October 1990]: The information is not available in precisely the form requested. The number of consultant nephrologists in post in England in 1989, the latest year for which information is available, was 69. The figures for 1985 and 1980 were 69 and 63 respectively. This does not take account of other physicians who have an interest in nephrology. The available information indicates that in 1989 in England and Wales there were 53 other consultants who registered nephrology as a second speciality compared with 45 in 1988.
According to data reported to the European Dialysis and Transplant Association the number of patients in the United Kingdom being treated for end stage renal failure at the end of the years 1988—the latest year for which information is available—1985 and 1980 were 16,155, 12,154 and 7,146 respectively.