§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for upgrading to medical assistant he has received from regional hospital boards in the past three years ; how many of these were approved ; and if he will give a breakdown of the figures by region and specialty.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellFrom 1971 to 1973, 21 applications from regional hospital boards for upgrading to medical assistant were considered ; of these 20 were approved. A breakdown by region and specialty is given below:
Region Speciality Northern Geriatrics North-Eastern — Eastern Ophthalmology Geriatrics Blood transfusion Anaesthetics South-Eastern Geriatrics Mental deficiency Western Clinical chemistry Psychiatry Anaesthetics Orthopaedic surgery Pathology (two posts) General medicine General surgery (two posts)* Blood transfusion Ophthalmology (two posts) ENT surgery Dermatology * Approval not given to one of these posts.