§ Mr. Redmondasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether his attention has been called to the fact that one in four of new doctors joining the National Health Service at the present time is overseas born; and what further steps he is taking to expedite the greater output of qualified British-born doctors.
§ Sir K. JosephI am aware of the proportion quoted by my hon. Friend which relates to new entrants to general practice; in the hospital service in England and Wales a third of the medical staff at present are overseas-born. The capacity of British medical schools has been steadily increasing; and as I announced on 16th December in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury and Radcliffe (Mr. Fidler) the target for pre-clinical entry places has now been raised to 4,100 by the late 1970s.—[Vol. 808, c.389.]