§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions during the last 12 years the recommendations of the review board have not been implemented in respect of the salaries of doctors and dentists; and what is his estimate of the cumulative shortfall resulting from variation of, or delays in, implementation.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Government have implemented in full the recommendations of the review body on doctors' and dentists' remuneration except in 1981, when the award was abated, and in 1989 and 1990 when two recommendations were rejected in each year. The 1981 abatement was restored at the start of 1984. Implementation of the award has been staged or deferred in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990 and 1991, but in all cases the awards were or will be in full payment by the end of the financial year to which they related.
By the time this year's awards are in full payment from 1 December, doctors' and dentists' pay will have increased by 37–4 per cent. in real terms since 1978, a rate of increase well above that of most other groups in the public and private sectors.