HC Deb 26 January 1993 vol 217 cc687-8W
25. Mr. Hague

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she is monitoring the progress of the regions in implementing the new deal for junior doctors; and if she will make a statement.

27. Mr. Duncan

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing the hours of duty of junior doctors.

Dr. Mawhinney

The ministerial group on junior doctors' hours, which I chair, receives regular reports from regional task forces which were established to oversee and support implementation of the new deal at local level.

We have set a target date of 1 April 1993 for eliminating posts with maximum contracted hours of more than 83 per week. The latest reports from task forces show that at 31 August 1992, 3,234 junior hospital doctors and dentists, out of a total of more than 25,000 in England, were contracted for a maximum average of more than 83 hours a week. This represents a fall in the number of doctors contracted for the longest hours of more than 2,000 since last February and more than 10,000 since September 1990.

We look to authorities and trusts to continue their progress in eliminating these posts and then to deliver the next phase of the hours reduction programme. This involves reducing maximum average contracted hours to no more than 72 per week for those junior doctors working

1st wave fundholders 2nd wave fundholders
Region Number of fundholders1 Number of practices Number of GPs Number of fundholders1 Number of practices Number of GPs 3rd wave fundholders (estimate) Number of fundholders1
Northern 27 29 168 11 11 63 32
Yorkshire 34 39 208 25 27 154 54
Trent 28 28 155 28 32 157 83
East Anglia 9 9 57 4 4 27 36
North West Thames 22 23 123 21 26 110 48
North East Thames 13 13 73 8 8 43 29
South East Thames 15 15 85 15 15 77 51
South West Thames 21 21 125 17 18 100 28
Wessex 17 18 98 17 18 109 25
Oxford 25 25 155 21 23 124 31

on on-call rotas in hard-pressed posts—the busiest jobs; 64 per week for juniors working on partial shifts; and 56 per week for juniors working on full shifts.

We are determined that junior doctors will see real and demonstrable benefits from the new deal and as well as reporting progress in reducing hours I am pleased that task force reports show significant progress in improving the living and working conditions of junior doctors and dentists.