§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of doctors who currently work for Benefits Agency medical services on a part-time basis have undertaken further education on clinical topics in the last year in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Wales and (c) England; and what percentage of this further education was related to mental illness. [6254]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThis is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Ron Davies, dated 10 January 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about what percentage of Doctors who currently work for Benefits Agency Medical Services (BAMS) on a part-time basis have undertaken further education on clinical topics in the last year in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Wales and (c) England; and what percentage of this further education was related to mental illness.Information about the further education on clinical topics undertaken by BAMS Doctors is not available.Fee paid Doctors are contracted on a self-employed basis and are paid hourly for a three and a half hour, half day session. All these Doctors, approved to apply the new medical test for Incapacity 329W Benefit, have received a flexible modular training course during the past year.Twenty per cent of the modules are related to the assessment of mental health problems and the application of the mental health questionnaire for the medical test for Incapacity Benefit.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of Benefits Agency medical services doctors work for the BAMS(a) full-time and (b) part-time in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) Wales and (iii) England. [6263]
§ Mr. EvansThe administration of the Benefits Agency medical services is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter front Peter Mathison to Mr. Ron Davies, dated 10 January 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about what percentage of Benefits Agency Medical Services (BAMS) Doctors work for the BAMS (a) full-time and (b) part-time in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) Wales and (iii) England.Details requested are outlined below. Both permanent and fixed term appointment Doctors are employed full time by the BAMS. You should know, however, that some Doctors employed on a permanent basis may also work part-time. Fee paid Doctors are contracted on a self-employed basis and are paid hourly for a three and a half hour, half day session.
Appendix A: Number and location of doctors employed by the Benefits Agency medical services Location Total number. full-time employed doctors Total number fee paid part-time doctors Fee paid doctors aged 65–70 Fee paid doctors aged 70+ Wales 27 144 39 10 Bootle 14 123 22 2 Manchester 12 142 25 3 Wembley 26 113 32 4 Bristol 14 90 17 1 Leeds 24 188 32 4 Newcastle 19 64 14 3 Glasgow 25 88 19 Nil Edinburgh 23 83 15 Nil Midlands 38 250 1 Nil Sutton 32 118 28 3 Fylde DLA 12 Nil Nil Nil Totals 266 1,403 244 30 These figures are provisional and subject to amendment.