HC Deb 28 April 1994 vol 242 cc310-1W
Ms Primarolo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there were in Birmingham in each of the last 10 years.

Dr. Mawhinney

Information relating to the Birmingham family health services authority area is shown in the table.

Date 1 October Number of unrestricted principals Date 1 October Number of unrestricted principals
1984 536 1989 574
1985 547 1990 579
1986 556 1991 564
1987 570 1992 563
1988 574 11993 560
1 Average list size 1,909; England average list size 1,902.

The Medical Practices Committee has advised that since 1990 there have been a number of single-handed general practitioners leaving the medical list and because they had small list sizes their lists were dispersed. There have also been a number of GPs leaving partnerships where the partnerships have succeeded to the outgoing doctor's list but no replacement was required.