§ 61. Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state in numbers the estimated national need for doctors in 1975, 1980 and 1985, respectively, and the present number of qualified doctors in the United Kingdom.
284W
§ Sir K. JosephNo precise estimates have been adopted. The Royal Commission on Medical Education, which reported in 1968, estimated that the number of doctors needed per million population would rise by 1.5 per cent. a year up to 1975 and 1.3 per cent. a year thereafter; this estimate has been taken into account in the existing plans for increasing the number of doctors trained in Great Britain, under which medical school places should rise from just over 3,000 last year to 4,100, or by over 1,000, by the end of the present decade compared with the beginning. It is estimated that there are at present 70,000 doctors in active practice in Great Britain.
§ Mr. Dellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total number of general practitioners in the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board area; how many are from overseas; and how many vacancies exist at the present time.
§ Mr. AlisonAt 1st October, 1971, the total number of general practitioners was 964, of whom 93 were born outside the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Partnership practices have been given approval to replace 18 outgoing general practitioners; a few have already taken in an assistant with a view to partnership. There are no vacant single-handed practices.