HC Deb 13 July 2000 vol 353 cc674-7W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of GPs in each health authority area in England are due to retire by 2005. [129611]

Mr. Denham

Although there is no fixed retirement age for general practitioners they are removed from the health authority medical list on reaching 70 years of age if providing general medical services as a principal. Similarly doctors employed by personal medical services pilots or under the salaried doctor scheme cannot work past the age of 70. Numbers of GPs who will reach the age of 70 years by 2005 are available in the table. However these do not take account of doctors who may retire before age 70 by choice or for medical or other reasons, nor is any allowance made for those GPs who may exercise the option to retire and so claim their pension and gratuity but who may return to the health authority medical list 28 days later and continue working until they fully retire. In addition there is no retirement age for doctors who return to work as assistants or locums.

Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs)1 and percentage of which aged 64 or over as at 1 October 1999 England
Numbers (headcount) and percentages
Region/Health authority All UPEs UPEs aged 64 or over Percentage of UPEs aged 64 or over
Leeds Healthcare 430 17 4.0
Newcastle and North Tyneside HA 275 2 0.7
North Cumbria HA 211 2 0.5
North Yorkshire HA 462 2 0.9
Northumberland HA 190 0 0.0
Sunderland HA 137 5 3.6
Tees HA 297 2 0.3
Wakefield Health Care 182 2 1.1
Northern and Yorkshire Regional Office Total 3,592 51 1.4
Trent
Barnsley HA 115 2 2.6
Doncaster HA 153 6 3.9
Leicestershire HA 500 2 0.8
Lincolnshire HA 347 2 0.3
North Derbyshire HA 196 2 0.5
North Nottinghamshire HA 198 2 2.0
Nottingham HA 347 9 2.6
Rotherham HA 115 2 0.9
Sheffield HA 338 7 2.1
South Humber HA 164 7 4.3
Southern Derbyshire HA 305 2 0.7
Trent Regional Office Total 2,778 45 1.6
Eastern
Bedfordshire HA 298 5 1.7
Cambridgeshire HA 398 2 0.5
East and North Hertfordshire HA 285 5 1.8
Norfolk HA 456 2 0.7
North Essex HA 480 8 1.7
South Essex HA 346 17 4.9
Suffolk HA 390 0 0.0
West Hertfordshire HA 303 7 2.3
Eastern Regional Office Total 2,956 47 1.6
London
Barking and Havering HA 185 15 8.1
Barnet HA 187 7 3.7
Bexley and Greenwich HA 216 10 4.6
Brent and Harrow HA 275 10 3.6
Bromley HA 159 2 0.6
Camden and Islington HA 228 14 6.1
Croydon HA 169 12 7.1
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA 390 26 6.7
East London and The City HA 386 30 7.8
Enfield and Haringey HA 265 15 5.7
Hillingdon HA 122 2 3.3
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA 185 12 6.5
Kingston and Richmond HA 187 2 2.1
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA 432 9 2.1
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA 330 15 4.5
Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA 231 22 9.5
London Regional Office Total 3,947 206 5.2
South Eastern
Berkshire HA 451 6 1.3
Buckinghamshire HA 396 2 0.3
East Kent HA 316 2 1.3
East Surrey HA 220 2 0.9
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA 402 5 1.2
Isle of Wight Health Commission 81 0 0.0
North and Mid Hampshire HA 303 0 0.0
Northamptonshire HA 311 2 1.3
Oxfordshire HA 371 2 1.1
Portsmouth and South East Hampshire HA 302 2 0.3
Southampton and South West Hampshire HA 326 2 0.6

Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs)1 and percentage of which aged 64 or over as at 1 October 1999 England
Numbers (headcount) and percentages
Region/Health authority All UPEs UPEs aged 64 or over Percentage of UPEs aged 64 or over
West Kent HA 537 20 3.7
West Surrey HA 348 6 1.7
West Sussex HA 415 2 0.2
South Eastern Regional Office Total 4,779 56 1.2
South Western
Avon HA 595 7 1.2
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA 310 2 0.6
Dorset HA 444 2 0.5
Gloucestershire HA 339 2 0.9
North and East Devon HA 317 2 0.3
Somerset HA 313 5 1.6
South and West Devon HA 375 2 0.5
Wiltshire HA 348 0 0.0
South Western Regional Office Total 3,041 22 0.7
West Midlands
Birmingham HA 581 23 4.0
Coventry HA 171 9 5.3
Dudley HA 158 5 3.2
Herefordshire HA 106 0 0.0
North Staffordshire HA 238 9 3.8
Sandwell HA 157 5 3.2
Shropshire HA 250 6 2.4
Solihull HA 114 2 2.6
South Staffordshire HA 298 6 2.0
Walsall HA 129 6 4.7
Warwickshire HA 267 9 3.4
Wolverhampton HA 124 5 4.0
Worcestershire HA 300 2 0.7
West Midlands Regional Office Total 2,893 88 3.0
North West
Bury and Rochdale HA 210 6 2.9
East Lancashire HA 276 15 5.4
Liverpool HA 253 7 2.8
Manchester Health 278 13 4.7
Morecambe Bay HA 186 2 1.1
North Cheshire HA 161 2 0.6
North West Lancashire HA 246 2 0.8
Salford and Trafford HA 240 5 2.1
Sefton HA 145 2 1.4
South Cheshire HA 387 6 1.6
South Lancashire HA 164 2 2.4
St. Helen's and Knowsley HA 184 6 3.3
Stockport Health 167 2 1.2
West Pennine HA 228 8 3.5
Wigan and Bolton HA 284 12 4.2
Wirral HA 196 2 1.5
North West Regional Office Total 3,605 94 2.6
England 27,591 609 2.2
1Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs) includes Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.
2Denotes less than five and greater than zero.

Note:

GP principals are removed from Health Authority lists at aged 70 and Stats(GMS) have identified the number of Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs) who are aged 64 and over as at 1 October 1999, who by 2005 will be aged 70 years.

Source:

Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

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