§ Mr. Roseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps she intends to take to raise the salaries of consultants wholly committed to and employed by the National Health Service during the phasing out of private beds in National Health Service hospitals.
§ Dr. OwenOne of the main reasons why this Government soon after taking office agreed to establish a Joint Working Party with the profession to consider consultants' contracts was that they believed that there were genuine grievances that needed to be examined in detail. It is the intention of the Government to negotiate a new deal for senior hospital doctors and dentists and a central objective will be to make a whole-time commitment by a consultant to the NHS more attractive than at present. The actual pricing of any new contract is a matter for the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body.