§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the number of women employed by the national health service as (1) consultants and (2) general practitioners since 1979; and what proportion of the totals women now form.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe latest available information on the number and proportion of female consultants and general practitioners in England is given in the table. Medical staffing in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland.
1979 1989 Hospital consultants (medical and dental) numbers 1135.4 2027.7 Female consultants as proportion of the whole percentage 10.3 14.4 General medical practitioners (GMPs) numbers 3,865 6,886 Female GMPs as a proportion of the whole percentage 16.8 24.8