§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total amount paid to general practitioners for signing death certificates, and the number of death certificates signed, in each year since 1990, for each regional health authority area.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 requires general practitioners to sign death certificates. This duty does not attract a separate fee from the Department of Health.
It is not possible to distinguish between death certificates signed by general practitioners and others, such as hospital doctors and coroners. The deaths recorded for each regional health authority from 1990 to 1992 are shown in the table. Figures for 1993 are not yet available.
Persons 1990 1991 1992 Northern RHA 37,480 37,970 37,072 Yorkshire RHA 41,955 42,044 40,481 Trent RHA 51,717 52,827 52,171 East Anglian RHA 22,296 22,700 22,207 North West Thames RHA 32,894 33,076 31,817 North East Thames RHA 38,574 38,997 38,006 South East Thames RHA 42,353 42,589 42,002 South West Thames RHA 32,630 33,108 32,149 Wessex RHA 34,497 34,756 34,195 Oxford RHA 22,323 22,937 22,806 South Western RHA 38,937 39,234 38,610 West Midlands RHA 56,762 56,980 56,092 Mersey RHA 27,906 28,230 27,460 North Western RHA 48,592 48,524 47,588 The figures relate to deaths registered in each calendar year, the time: lag between the date of occurrence and the date of registration being usually only a day or two.