§ Mr. Derek TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many hours per week on average consultants who work both in the NHS and the private health sector spend on(a) NHS work and (b) private work; [157819]
(2) what percentage of consultants in 2000 worked in both the NHS and the private health sector.[157841]
§ Ms StuartInformation is not held centrally on the number of hours worked by consultants in either the National Health Service or for the private sector. Information on the types of contract held by consultants is available and is set out in the table.
Hospital, public health medicine (PHM) and community health service (CHS) medical and dental consultants by nature of contract England at 30 September 2000 Numbers and percentage Consultant Percentage of all consultant contract All contracts 24,306 100 Whole time 13,877 57 Maximum part-time 5,750 24 Part-time 3,005 12 Honorary 1,674 7 Source:
Department of Health 2000 medical and dental workforce census
Definition:
Maximum part time contract—means that the consultant foregoes one eleventh of whole-time salary, in return for the removal of restrictions on private practice earnings. However, there is still a clear contractual obligation to devote "substantially the whole" of their professional time to their NHS duties.