§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many doctors were appointed to consultant posts in the National Health Service during 1971; how many opted for part-time contracts by speciality; and how these figures compare with 1970.
§ Mr. AlisonThe latest available information, for the years ended 30th September, is given below.
The number of paid medical consultant appointments in:
1971 (Provisional) 1970 Total 453 465 Whole-time 239 205 Part-time 36 35 Maximum Part-time 178 225 Maximum Part-time appointments by Specialties:— General Medicine 19 26 Nuclear Medicine — 1 Physical Medicine and Rheumatology 2 2 Diseases of the Chest 1 — Cardiology — 2 Venereal Diseases 1 — Nephrology 1 — Geriatrics 1 — Ophthalmology 10 16 Neurology 3 4 Clinical Neurophysiology 1 1 Paediatrics 2 2 Paediatric Surgery — 1 General Surgery 29 35 Ear, Nose and Throat 8 16 Traumatic and Orthopaedic Surgery 23 22 Urology 4 7 Plastic Surgery 3 3 Neurosurgery — 1 Anaesthetics 35 37 Radiotherapy 1 3 Radiology 5 6 Gynaecology and Obstetrics 20 21 General Pathology — 2 Chemical Pathology 1 — Haematology 2 2 Morbid Anatomy 1 — Medical Microbiology — 1 Mental Illness 4 10 Mental Illness, Children 1 4 Notes:
1. Consultants appointed to whole-time posts normally have the option of a whole-time or maximum part-time (nine elevenths of whole-time salary) contract.
2. The figures for maximum part-time consultants include a few consultants holding posts which were only available on a part-time basis.