HC Deb 08 March 2000 vol 345 c758W
Mr. Woodward

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the number of general practitioners per 1,000 population in(a) Oxfordshire, (b) England and (c) the United Kingdom in each year since 1990. [112647]

Mr. Denham

The information requested is in the table. Issues relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are matters for their respective administrations.

Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs1) per 1,000 population as at 1 October each year
UPEs per 1,000 population
Oxfordshire2
1990 0.55
1991 0.55
1992 0.57
1993 0.57
1994 0.58
1995 0.58
1996 0.59
1997 0.59
1998 0.59
England
1990 0.53
1991 0.53
1992 0.54
1993 0.54
1994 0.55
1995 0.55
1996 0.55
1997 0.55
1998 0.55
1 UPEs includes unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs
2 Data relate to Oxfordshire FPC for 1990, Oxfordshire FHSA for 1991 to 1995 and Oxfordshire HA for 1996 to 1998

Source:

Department of Health General and personal Medical Services Statistics and ONS Population Data

Mr. Breed

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population live(a) within one mile of, (b) over one mile from and (c) over three miles from their nearest GP in (i) urban and (ii) rural areas. [112820]

Ms Stuart

The information is not available in the form requested.

However, an analysis based on the Exeter family health services database indicates that in urban areas 94 per cent. of patients live within 1 mile of their nearest surgery, 5 per cent. between 1 and 2.5 miles, and 1 per cent. live more than 2.5 miles away. In rural areas, the figures are 72 per cent, 19 per cent, and 9 per cent. respectively.

It should be noted that in each of these analyses, percentage of patients will not be the same as percentage of population, due to the effects of any local list inflation.