§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if an estimate has been made of possible savings where general practitioners use bleeper devices for their own practice; if an estimate has also been made of the effectiveness of such devices in obtaining the services of doctors in emergencies; if she will reconsider her Department's approach to this problem; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. OwenI regret that information is not available centrally about the economics of paging devices used by general practitioners or their effectiveness in emergencies. As I explained in my reply to my hon. Friend's previous Questions on 14th July—[Vol. 895, c.377–8.]—It is for the individual practitioner to decide whether or not he needs to have such a device as part of his practice equipment. 118W In the light of its experience of the Thames Valley pilot scheme referred to in my previous reply the Post Office has announced that it will be introducing next year a radio-paging service covering the Greater London area. Apart from that I have nothing to add to that reply, and see no reason to vary the Department's approach to the problem.