§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proposals he has made to reduce the staffing levels in obstetrics and gynaecology in the northern region; what is the reason for his proposals; and what representations he has received about them.
§ Mr. MoyleI refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter) on 31st July. The region has been asked to surrender posts only in the training grades and can increase its staffing levels in the career grades if it wishes.
The proposals were set out in a letter of 15th June 1977 following extensive 436W consultation with the medical profession and regional health authorities. Since then, my Department has received two letters from the Dean of the Newcastle Medical School about certain points of difficulty and a paper prepared for the Regional Manpower Committee on this subject. This paper was considered by the Central Manpower Committee, which felt it showed that there were no insuperable difficulties to the surrender of the post.