HL Deb 25 March 1999 vol 598 cc170-1WA
Lord Swinfen

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many medical posts of consultant status there are in each of the three armed services; what are the medical specialities of the posts, and how many of the posts are filled in each service. [HL806]

The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)

The number of medical posts of consultant status in each of the three Services and the number of those posts filled at 1 March 1999 is as follows:

Royal Navy Army Royal Air Force
Number of Posts 138 245 64
Number Filled 54 (39%) 79 (32%) 49 (77%)

The figures relate only to consultants employed in their specialty and do not include a number of consultants filling Command and Staff appointments. Some vacant consultant posts are currently filled by civilian consultants and, on military operations, can be filled by Specialist Registrars within two years of becoming accredited consultants.

The specialties and sub-specialties of the consultant posts are as follows:

  • Anaesthetics
  • General Medicine
  • Dermatology
  • Paediatrics
  • Genito-Urinary Medicine
  • Neurology
  • General Surgery
  • Obstetrics & Gynaecology
  • Urology
  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Burns & Plastics
  • Accident & Emergency
  • Psychiatry
  • Ophthalmic Surgery
  • Maxillofacial Surgery
  • Otorhinolaryngology
  • Rheumatology & Rehabilitation
  • Radiology
  • Pathology
  • Occupational Medicine
  • Diving
  • Radiation
  • Aviation
  • Public Health.
The Defence Dental Service is run on a tri-Service basis and no post belongs to a particular Service. There are five dental consultant posts, of which two were filled as at 1 March 1999.