§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his answer of 20 February, if he will estimate the additional cost of upgrading 500 currently employed senior registrars at the top of their incremental scale to consultant grade, starting at the bottom of their incremental scale.
§ Mr. NewtonThe bottom of the consultant salary scale is currently £23,500. The top of the senior registrar scale is £16,750 but on average senior registrars will receive an additional £5,528 as payment for units of medical time. The additional basic salary cost of upgrading a senior registrar at the top of the scale would thus be some £1,200 in the first year on average, increasing in subsequent years as the newly-appointed consultant ascends the consultant scale. Employer's contributions to superannuation and national insurance would increase this to about £1,400. The total net salary cost of upgrading 500 senior registrars would thus be some £700,000 in the first year.
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Ranking of Regions by percentage change in the number of patients on the in-patient waiting list between 1976 and 1986 Health authority Numbers of patients on in-patient waiting list In-patient cases treated September 1976 September 1986 Change between 1976 and 1986 Change between 1975 and 1985 Number Percentage Number Percentage North Western 66,893 61,143 -5,750 -8.6 164,147 36.2 South Western 44,389 43,686 -703 -1.6 94,122 30.0 Mersey 30,221 30,126 -95 -0.3 63,255 23.6 North West Thames1 43,421 43,710 289 0.7 36,142 9.4 Oxford 31,606 33,249 1,643 5.2 64,221 27.5 Northern 34,364 36,880 2,516 7.3 86,159 24.8 West Midlands 72,536 79,261 6,725 9.3 165,946 33.2 South West Thames1 30,295 36,073 5,778 19.1 48,077 16.2 Trent 50,885 60,842 9,957 19.6 164,224 39.7 South East Thames 45,797 56,768 10,971 24.0 97,004 24.0 East Anglian 22,031 27,860 5,829 26.5 75,708 43.4 Wessex 32,591 42,726 10,135 31.1 89,720 33.5 Yorkshire 34,689 46,597 11,908 34.3 113,910 28.2 North East Thames1 41,077 74,926 33,849 82.4 104,463 23.9 There could however be wider consequential cost implications of a considerable order, but for which there is at present no basis for a precise estimate. A reduction in senior registrar numbers alone would not be sufficient to solve the underlying problems of hospital medical staffing; and as I pointed out in my earlier reply, however, the changes in the hospital staffing structure proposed in "Achieving a Balance" do not envisage converting senior registrar to consultant posts on anything like this scale.