HC Deb 19 November 2001 vol 375 cc15-6W
Mr. Swayne

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the personnel operational and retained task requirement for each medical specialty within the Defence Medical Services, indicating the current strength in each specialty. [13705]

Dr. Moonie

[holding answer 16 November 2001]: The operational and retained task requirement for each medical specialty within the Defence Medical Services and the strength in each as at 1 October 2001 are shown in the tables:

Consultants
Specialty Operational and retained task requirement1 Trained consultants in specialty1.2 Specialists undergoing training3
Anaesthetists 120 26 63
General medicine 51 18 27
Paediatricians 5 2 1
Neurologists 1 0 0
General surgeons 44 16 52
Obstetricians and gynaecologist 3 0 1
Urologists 2 1 1
Orthopaedic surgeons 28 10 21
Burns and plastic surgery 11 3 5
Accident and emergency 23 3 20
Psychiatrists 31 11 11
Ophthalmic surgeons 10 3 8

Consultants
Specialty Operational and retained task requirement1 Trained consultants in specialty1,2 Specialists undergoing training3
Oral maxillofacial surgeons 10 8 8
Ear, nose and throat 10 3 8
Rheumatology and rehabilitation 6 6 3
Radiologists 11 8 3
Pathologists 18 7 1
Aviation medicine 2 1 2
Occupational medicine 50 8 24
Public health 2 8 3

General medical practitioners
Specialty
Operational and retained task requirement1 398
Vocationally trained GMPs1 160
GMPs undergoing vocational training4 73
No vocational training5 186
1 Command and staff posts are excluded from the Operational and Retained Task Requirement and trained manpower figures.
2 In addition to the figures shown there were five Associate Specialist anaesthetists and one Staff Grade general surgeon who would be deployable under the supervision of a consultant.
3 The figures provided comprise Specialist Registrars and Senior House Officers. Specialist Registrars within two years of accreditation are deployable within their specialty under the supervision of a consultant while all others are deployable as general duties medical officers.
4 GP Vocational Trainees are deployable as general duties medical officers.
5 This figure comprises medical officers who have yet to start training in a primary or secondary care discipline or who qualified prior to the introduction of GP vocational training.

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