§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is available to locum general practitioners on(a) sick leave and (b) maternity leave. [187765]
§ Angela SmithA locum general practitioner who is on sick leave or maternity leave is entitled to the same range of social security benefits as any self employed person who pays class 2 national insurance contributions. This includes incapacity benefit and maternity benefit.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the(a) number of missed general practitioner appointments and (b) resultant costs in the Province in the latest year for which figures are available. [187769]
§ Angela SmithThis information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many(a) contacts to and (b) domiciliary visits from each general practice out-of-hours service there were in the Province in each of the last five years. [187811]
Angela Smith: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.