§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many doctors are currently training in the National Health Service; and what were the figures for 1960, 1970, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAs I said in my reply to my hon. Friend on 13 July — [Vol. 45, c.366–7]— there were 23,622 qualified doctors in NHS training grades in England, including locums and university staff in honorary NHS contracts, at 30 September 1982. More recent information is not yet available. Exactly comparable figures for earlier years are not available, but the following table gives the numbers in the training grades of the hospital service, in community medicine and in the general medical services (excluding locums) for the years 1963, 1970, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982.
Doctors in NHS training grades in England 1963–82 Year Total Hospital services* Community medicine† General medical services‡ 1963 n.a. 10,045 n.a. 195 1970 n.a. 12,958 n.a. 194 1979 20,934 19,671 120 1,143