§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a district by district breakdown on Merseyside of the number and percentage of principals in general medical practice who have consented to arrange for deputising services at night and weekends.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe number and percentage of unrestricted principals with consent to use deputising services by family practitioner committees as at 1 October 1983 is:
288W
Family Practitioner Committee Number of unrestricted principals Number with consent to use deputising services Per cent. with consent to use deputising services Liverpool 269 226 84.0 St. Helens and Knowsley 172 165 95.9 Sefton 133 59 44.4 Wirral 172 93 54.1
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what factors he attributes the level of use by family medical practitioners on Merseyside of night and weekend deputising services.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt is clearly the responsibility of the family practitioner committee, in consultation as necessary with the local medical committee, to decide in each case whether to consent to the use by a doctor of a deputising service. Information is not available centrally on levels of use but I am concerned generally that for some doctors this may exceed the conditions imposed by family practitioner committees when consent was given. This is one of the many matters I am considering in the general review of the control of the use of deputising services that we are now carrying out.