§ Mr. Michael Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many pharmacies there are per thousand population in Great Britain compared to France, Italy and West Germany, at the latest available date.
§ Mr. HayhoeEach of the countries quoted operates different primary health care schemes and comparisons of levels of pharmaceutical services based solely on the numbers of pharmacies are not necessarily valid. Apart from Great Britain, there are no official statistics on the numbers of pharmacies in these countries. But using information available, in 1982 there was approximately one pharmacy for every 5,100 persons in Great Britain compared with 3,750 in West Germany; 3,000 in France; and 4,000 in Italy.
§ Mr. Michael Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the Government intend to ensure that all family practitioner committees shall publish the number of pharmacies per thousand population in their area compared to a national norm.
§ Mr. HayhoeThere is no national norm. The ratio of pharmacies to population might be one of many items of information a family practitioner committee would need to collect to assess the adequacy of services provided to the public.