§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what specific steps he intends to take to reduce the hours presently worked by junior doctors in National Health Service hospitals; and what discussions he intends to have about this with representatives of the medical profession and local health authorities.
Whole time equivalent of consultant posts vacant or without a permanent holder in West Midlands region and England—September 1984 West Midlands England Proportion in West Midlands (per cent.) (i) Wholly unoccupied 110 703 16 (ii) Occupied by locums 15 174 9 (iii) Posts unoccupied by a permanent holder for 12 months or more: (a) wholly unoccupied 39 325 12 (b) occupied by locums 6 69 9