§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the consultant vacancies, by speciality, in each health board area; and if he will show against each vacancy how many times it has been advertised; and if he will show the number of doctors in the senior training grades in each specialty.
§ Mr. William RossI regret that this information is not readily available. The table below shows the number of consultant appointments made in Scotland by specialty and region in 1973 along with the average number of applicants for posts in each specialty and the number of doctors in the senior registrar grade.
Of the 99 consultant posts advertised during 1973, 87 were advertised and filled following the first advertisement and four were filled on subsequent advertisement. Of the eight posts unfilled at the end of the year four have since been filled; the unfilled posts are in psychiatry—two—radiology and geriatrics.
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Specialty North North-east East South-east West Scotland Average number of applicants Number of senior registrars in post Ear, nose and throat surgery — — — — 1 1 5 9 Ophthalmology — 1 — 1 2 4 8 8 Obstetrics and gynaecology 1 — — 1 4 6 8 24 Pathology 1 — — — 2 3 4 17 Haematology — 1 — 1 1 3 2 12 Clinical chemistry — — 1 — — 1 2 6 Microbiology — — — 1 3 4 3 10 Immunology — — — — — — — — Psychiatry — — 1 4 9 14 5 35 Forensic psychiatry — — — — — — — — Child psychiatry — — — 1 1 2 2 9 Mental deficiency — — — — — — — — All medical specialties 6 6 5 22 52 91 355
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish figures showing the number of consultants and medical assistants in each specialty over the period 1960 to 1974 or the nearest available date.
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MEDICAL AND DENTAL STAFF SCOTLAND STAFF IN POST AT 30TH SEPTEMBER Consultants Medical and Dental Assistants Speciality 1972 1973 1972 1973 General medicine … … … … 187 194 15 17 Cardiology … … … … 10 10 — — Geriatrics … … … … 42 46 23 23 Homeopathy … … … … 1 2 — 1 Social medicine … … … … 7 10 — 1 Chest diseases … … … … 44 41 14 12 Mental health … … … … 178 187 66 63 Neurology … … … … 13 13 — — Paediatrics and paediatric surgery … … … … 60 65 9 9 Radiology … … … … 94 97 2 2 Venereology … … … … 8 8 3 3 Ophthalmology … … … … 51 52 17 16 General surgery … … … … 157 160 8 9 Urology … … … … 20 22 — — Anaesthetics … … … … 175 181 18 19 Neuro-surgery … … … … 14 14 — — Plastic surgery … … … … 14 15 — — Radiotherapy … … … … 26 27 3 2 Physical medicine … … … … 6 6 1 1 Pathology … … … … 85 85 15 15 Haematology … … … … 26 31 2 2 Virology … … … … 2 3 1 — Biochemistry … … … … 27 28 3 3 Bacteriology … … … … 56 57 7 7 Infectious diseases … … … … 18 16 3 3 Dermatology … … … … 27 28 1 2 Thoracic surgery … … … … 13 13 — — Orthopaedic surgery … … … … 80 81 11 9 Ear, Nose and Throat surgery … … … … 48 48 7 8 Obstetrics and gynaecology … … … … 114 115 6 7 Dentistry (including orthodontics) … … … … 56 55 23 25 TOTALS … … … … 1,659 1,710 258 259
§ Mr. William RossThe figures for the period 1960 to 1971 are contained in "Scottish Health Statistics" published annually by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Details for 1972 and 1973 are set out in the table below.