§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why merit awards to consultants are given secretly; and what was the total annual cost of merit awards for 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 and the percentage of consultants receiving merit awards for each of these years.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe rule that the names of award holders should be secret was relaxed in 1979. It was originally introduced to prevent patients, general practitioners, NHS authorities or committees or the press from making judgments on the status of consultants without understanding all the facts that relate to awards and that the number available is limited. In 1979 it was agreed with the profession that the names of award holders should be available to consultants generally within their region on request to the regional medical officer.
Records are not maintained to show the amounts actually paid out in distinction awards, since the award holder is paid pro rata to the amount of work he does for the NHS. The table below shows the total amount authorised, the total estimated as paid and the percentage of award holders from 1979 to 1983 inclusive. The figures relate to England and Wales.
Total auth-orised Estimated Payment Percentage of practitioners holding awards £ £ 1979 23,153,919 19,217,753 34.3 1980 33,517,820 27,819,790 34.6 1981 35,824,910 29,733,845 35.7 1982 38,552,350 31,998,450 35.7 1983 41,693,000 34,605,190 35.7