§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of junior hospital doctors in the Eastern region worked rotas of one in three or worse during the years 1987, 1988, 1989 and estimated for 1990.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe information is not available in the form requested. We do, however, have a report from the East Anglian regional health authority on the results of our June 1988 initiative on junior doctors' hours. Some 40 per cent. of junior doctors in the region were on one in three rotas or worse in 1988. By September 1990, some 24 per cent. of junior doctors are expected to be on onerous one in three rotas or worse. This compares with an expected national total of around 13 per cent. on such rotas by that date.