§ Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of National Insurance (1) how the number of weeks for which sickness benefit has been paid compares with that expected according to the tables of sickness rates used in the official estimates of the cost of sickness benefit;
(2) if the excessive resort to doctors in the National Health Service has been reflected in an excessive number of claims for sickness benefit.
§ Mr. J. Griffiths:Close comparison with the estimates in the Government Actuary's Report on the Bill, to which I assume the hon. Member is referring, will not be possible until adequate statistical material is available. Several special inquiries have, however, been made and the information available gives me no reason to think that either the number or duration of claims to sickness benefit are in excess of what was expected.