§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to monitor the number of vacancies for general medical practitioners in Wales. [20254]
§ Mr. HagueIt would serve no useful purpose to collect this information routinely at a national level. Family health services authorities hold information about the number of vacancies in their area and provide advice to my Department on general trends as and when necessary.
FHSAs also provide more specific advice to the Medical Practices Committee. The MPC has responsibility for controlling the distribution of GPs in England and Wales with the aim of ensuring that there are adequate numbers of GPs throughout the country.