§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will detail the items included in other changes in sections 11 and 12 of table 5.10 of Command Paper No. 7439.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe table below sets out the items included in "Other Changes" in section 11 of table 5.10 of Command Paper No. 7439.
§ Mr. MoyleMy right hon. Friend has no plans for introducing a salaried general medical practitioner service and it is not clear why my hon. Friend considers that payment by salary would secure better protection for patients than the present method of payment. We are not aware that patients are not receiving proper protection from general practitioners against disease, but if my hon. Friend has evidence bearing on this issue, I would be glad to consider it.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list all the items, with the fee paid for each, for which a general practitioner may receive separate remuneration from the National Health Service;
(2) what is the average basic remuneration of general practitioners from the National Health Service; and what is their average additional income from the National Health Service from fees for vaccination, assessments, etc.
§ Mr. MoyleI am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the schedule of fees and allowances which appears in the statement of fees and allowances payable to general medical practitioners in England and Wales. He will see from this that 143W the system does not consist of the equivalent of a basic salary with additions for a limited number of separate activities.
The payments made by family practitioner committees—(health boards in Scotland)—are based on recommendations by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration. The payments provide for the reimbursement of practice expenses as well as net remuneration for the services provided. The income of individual practitioners varies widely and the only indication of net remuneration possible is in relation to the average received from all fees and allowances other than those for contraceptive services. The Review Body in its eighth report said that it intended the recommendations to be implemented from 1 April 1978 to produce net remuneration of £9,785 per annum per practitioner. Fees for vaccination and immunisation contain an element for reimbursement of practice expenses: the total amount for Great Britain derived from the summarised accounts for 1977–78 was £4.3 million.