§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will encourage family practitioners committees to keep a register of all practices with assistant doctors in their area and to watch closely the turnover of assistants in practices.
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§ Dr. OwenThe terms of service of a principal in general practice in the National Health Service already require him to inform the appropriate family practitioner committee of the name of any assistant he employs and of the termination of such employment, and he must obtain the consent of the committee to the employment of an assistant for more than three months in any period of 12 months. The committee is required to review periodically any consent given, and may withdraw it after consultation with the local medical committee. I have at present no evidence to suggest a need for any closer control over this type of employment.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the total amount of salaries paid to general practitioners in 1975 and 1974;
(2) if there are any means whereby the family practitioner commission can check on individual salary payments to doctors in general practice.
§ Dr. OwenPayments to general practitioners are gross, combining the equivalent of a salary with the reimbursements of practice expenses. In 1974–75 the gross payments for England amounted to £217 million and in 1975–76 to £290 million. Provisional estimates indicate practice expenses amounted to £80 million in 1974–75 leaving £137 million as net remuneration. Practice expense figures for 1975–76 are not yet available and no estimate can therefore be made of net remuneration in that year.
Family practitioner committees know, of course, the gross amounts they pay individual practitioners, but they have no means of knowing the amount of practice expenses each practitioner has to meet, and, therefore, how much out of the gross payment is left to him as net remuneration.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many assistant doctors there are presently employed by practices in the United Kingdom;
(2) how many doctors there are in general practice at the present time.
§ Dr. OwenOn 1st October 1975 there were 25,194 doctors providing the full range of general medical services and 483584W assistants practising in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.