§ Dr. OwenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many general practitioners there are per 10,000 of the population in(a) Greater London and (b) the rest of England.
§ Mr. NewtonAt 1 October 1986 the numbers of general medical practitioners per 10,000 population in Greater London and the rest of England were 5.5 and 5.1 respectively.
§ Dr. OwenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the cost of training a family doctor.
§ Mr. NewtonAbout £110,000 comprising £40,000 for university costs of undergraduate medical education—as defined in my reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) on 23 November 1987 at column81—and a further £70,000 for the direct salary costs of doctors during their pre-registration year and three years vocational training for general practice. Since training is basically on-the-job there is an offsetting but unquantifiable value of the service contribution made by these doctors.