Hospital Consultants (Hansard, 31 March 1994)

§ Ms Primarolo
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had concerning the self-payment by maximum or part-time hospital consultants of in-service training costs; and if she will make a statement.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
None. The chief medical officer has convened a conference on continuing medical education to1044W be held on 13 June which will consider the question of the funding of the training and education of hospital consultants.

§ Ms Primarolo
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the guidelines limiting the proportion of their NHS income which full-time hospital consultants may earn from private practice apply to hospital consultants employed by trusts.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The limits on the earnings from private practice of full-time national health service consultants apply to those whose contracts retain national terms—whether they work in trusts or for health authorities. Trusts have freedom to negotiate new terms of employment with their staff.

§ Ms Primarolo
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her Department's estimate of the average time spent by hospital consultants employed as maximum part-timers on private practice and on national health service patients.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
No such estimate is made.

§ Ms Primarolo
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of their working hours maximum part-time hospital consultants are required to spend on national health service patients.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
National health service hospital consultants with maximum part-time contracts under national terms of service are contractually required to devote substantially the whole of their professional time to duties in the NHS. The actual allocation of time with NHS patients is determined as part of the consultant job plan drawn up in agreement with local management.