§ Mr. GalbraithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each year since 1959 the number of doctors employed by the National Health Service, with each year also expressed as a percentage change on the previous year.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe numbers of doctors employed by the NHS in the years 1975 to 1988 inclusive 297W are shown in the table together with the percentage change from year to year. The construction of an equivalent time series of 1959 to 1974 would incur disproportionate expenditure and lack consistency because of changes in recording practice.
Year Number Percentage change on previous year 1975 9,075 1976 9,267 2.1 1977 9,512 2.6 1978 9,641 1.4 1979 9,839 2.1 1980 9,923 0.9 1981 10,167 2.5 1982 10,229 0.6 1983 10,410 1.8 1984 10,499 0.9 1985 10,509 0.1 1986 10,480 -0.3 1987 10,476 0.0 1988 10,833 3.4