§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many doctors are in full-time general medical practice in England; what is the ratio of doctors to patients; and how this has changed over the last five years.
§ Dr. OwenThe numbers of doctors providing the full range of general medical services in England and the average numbers of patients on the lists of these doctors are given below.
Number of doctors Average list size per doctor 1969 18,901 2,495 1970 19,099 2,478 1971 19,374 2,460 1972 19,775 2,421 1973 19,997 2,398 1974 20,218 Not yet available
§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many fully qualified doctors are either in full-time or part-time service in hospitals in England at the present time; and how many of these doctors are foreign citizens.
§ Dr. OwenFigures for 1974 are not yet available. At 30th September 1973 there were 25,289 doctors holding permanent paid appointments and 1,463 holding honorary appointments in hospitals in England. Of these, 9,277 were born outside the United Kingdom or the Irish Republic. In addition, 6,120 part-time medical officers, mostly general practitioners, were engaged in hospital work.
§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many fully qualified doctors are employed on full-time administrative work, either in the Department of Health and Social Security or under the various area health authorities in England.
§ Dr. OwenThere are 53 community physicians employed at regional health172W authorities and 475 at area health authorities. The medical administrative staff of the Department of Health and Social Security in England includes 314 qualified doctors, a number of whom devote a proportion of their time to duties of a clinical nature.