§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what trends general practitioners have experienced in the number of night visits over the last 25 years; and what is his assessment of the reasons for those trends.
§ Mr. StewartThe information available centrally is for 1976–77 onwards and is as follows:
Financial year Number of night visits 1976–77 81,614 1977–78 80,989 1978–79 83,909 1979–80 84,620 1980–81 83,347 1981–82 90,649 1982–83 96,231 1983–84 103,106 1984–85 107,598 1985–86 119,130 1986–87 138,104 1987–88 122,747 1988–89 132,640 1989–90 143,556 1990–91 206,946 1991–92 244,310 1992–93 232,201 1993–94 245,158 Notes:
1. The figures for financial years 1976–77 to 1989–90 are derived from total accrued payments to general medical practitioners in Scotland for night visits for each of those years.
2. The figures for 1990–91 to 1992–93 are the total numbers of night visit claims for which GMPs received payment in each of those years.
606W3. The figure for 1993–94 is an estimate based on the total number of night visit claims for which GMPs received payment during the first six months of that year.