§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of regular Army surgeons required to meet current commitments; [2056]
(2) what is his estimate for the total number of Army surgeons who will be employed by his Department in each of the next five years. [2055]
§ Mr. SoamesThe number of trained deployable Regular Army surgeons—comprising the disciplines of general surgery, opthalmics, burns and plastics, maxillo-facial and ear, nose and throat—oto-rhino-laryngology—required to meet current commitments is 55. Although it is not possible to predict the precise number of surgeons who will be employed in each of the next five years, all practicable steps will be taken to ensure that our requirements are fully met.