§ Mr. Stallardasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many consultant psychogeriatricians are currently employed within the National Health Service; how many posts are currently being advertised; and if he has any plans to increase this number in the future.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergPsychogeriatrics is not identified as a separate speciality in the statistics of medical staff in post. At 30 September 1980, there were 405 consultants in geriatric medicine and 1,083 consultants in the speciality of mental illness employed in NHS hospitals in England and Wales. In the period 1 October 1979 to 30 September 1980, 23 advertisements for consultant posts mentioned that the majority of work would be in the psychiatry of old age. The training programme approved by the appropriate educational body now recommends that senior trainees in mental illness should gain experience in the psychiatry of old age. Additional training posts were recently authorised to enable expansion of this important area of medicine.