§ 61. Sir G. Sinclairasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many students born in the United Kingdom have qualified in medical schools in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; and how many of these have since left the United Kingdom for work elsewhere.
§ Sir K. JosephThe numbers of British-based students, not necessarily all of them British-born, who qualified in the years 1966 to 1970 were 1,821, 1,879, 2,083, 2,112 and 2,119 respectively; figures are not available showing the number of these who have left, but the annual net 169W loss by migration of all British doctors is in the region of 400.
§ 62. Sir G. Sinclairasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress he has made in reducing the dependence of the National Health Service on doctors from overseas.
§ Sir K. JosephLast year the number of British and Irish-born doctors in the National Health Service in England and Wales rose by 516, compared with a rise of 237 in the number of doctors born elsewhere. The gain of British doctors was about twice that of other recent years. More British doctors are expected so qualify each year as the capacity of British medical schools builds up towards the target intake of 4,100 by the late 1970s, which I announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury and Radcliffe (Mr. Fidler) on 16th December.—[Vol. 808, c.389.]
§ Sir G. Sinclairasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the Government's policy of reducing the dependence of the National Health Service on doctors from overseas, how many extra such doctors he estimates the service will need in each of the next five years, taking into account the annual outflow.
§ Sir K. JosephBecause many variables are involved, including the rate of loss by emigration of British doctors, no firm estimate can be made. The net addition, in 1969–70, of 237 to the total number of overseas-born doctors in the National Health Service in England and Wales was exceptionally low and the figure for 1970–71 may be somewhat higher, but in general I expect the figure to remain below the level of 700 reached in the late 1960s and progressively to diminish.