§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate she has of the number of part-time consultants in the London teaching hospitals and in the hospitals covered by the Wol-verhampton Regional Health Authority who have become full-time consultants before retiring age in order to qualify for higher superannuation benefits.
§ Dr. OwenThe new superannuation rules do not enable a part-time consultant to qualify for higher benefits by changing to whole-time shortly before retire-54W ment. However, maximum part-time consultants in post on 15th December 1966 have a reserved right to have their benefits calculated under the old rules. Even in such cases, the effect of recent improvements to the National Health Service superannuation scheme would normally outweigh any advantage under the reserved right.
In the year ending September 1973, one London teaching hospital consultant aged between 50 and 55 became full-time. The corresponding figure for hospitals covered by the former Birmingham Regional Hospital Board and Board of Governors was five ; of these, one was aged under 40, three between 40 and 49, and one over 50. I understand that no consultant in post now at the hospitals covered by the Wolverhampton Area Health Authority has exercised this option and that none retiring from these hospitals since April 1972 had done so.