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General Practitioners

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of full-time GPs by region in each year between 1992 and 1995. [13638]

Mr Malone: The information requested is contained in General Medical Services Statistics England and Wales, copies of which are available in the Library.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 640

GP Fundholders

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner fundholders went over budget in the last year banded according to the amount of overspend. [13642]

Mr. Malone: Information for 1995-96 is not yet available. Tables 1 and 2 give figures for 1994-95, classifying overspends, respectively, in cash terms and as a percentage of total budget. The average awarded to a fund during 1994-95 was £1.7 million.

Table 1: Fundholders over budget 1994-95 by size of overspend (cash)

Amount (£000s) over budget	Number of funds(11)
Up to 50	220
50 up to 100	104
100 up to 150	38
150 or more	24

(11) A fund is the organisational unit to which the budget is awarded.

Table 2: Fundholders over budget 1994-95 by size of overspend (parentage of budget)

Proportion (percentage over budget)	Number of funds(12)
Up to 2.5	189
2.5 up to 5	105
5 up to 10	77
10 or more	15

(12) A fund is the organisational unit to which the budget is awarded.

St. Bartholomew's Hospital

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the members of the Grierson committee examining the future of St. Bartholomew's hospital, indicating their background. [13874]

Mr. Malone: Sir Ronald Grierson's task force to examine practical options for future use of the St. Bartholomew's hospital site comprises the following members:

	Position
Sir Ronald Grierson	Former Chairman, GEC International
Professor Sir Colin Dollery	Former Dean Royal Postgraduate Medical School; Pro Vice-Chancellor for Medicine and Dentistry, University of London
Mr. S. T. Gray	Chairman, Smith and Williamson Securities, and Chairman of the Special Trustees for St. Bartholomew's Hospital
Mr. C. J. Perrin	Deputy Chairman, Hambros Bank UK
Sir. Tim Bell	Chairman, Lowe Bell Communications
Mrs. Tessa Keswick	Director, The Centre for Policy Studies
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild	Chairman, N. M. Rothschild and Sons Ltd.
Lord Sheppard of Didgemere	Chairman, Grand Metropolitan plc; Chairman, London First
Right hon. Peter Brooke MP	Member of Parliament, City of London and Westminster South
Mr. M. Cassidy	Chairman, Policy and Resources Committee, The Corporation of London
Sir Derek Boorman	Chairman, Royal Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. G. Green	Chief Executive, Royal Hospitals NHS Trust (Secretary to the Task Force).

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 641

Butane Gas Lighters

Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each year since 1990 the number and age range of individuals who have died as a result of the abuse of butane gas lighters and refills. [13644]

Mr. Burns: St. George's hospital medical school collects data on deaths in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands associated with the deliberate inhalation of volatile substances. The information requested on butane gas lighters and refills by age range for the years 1990-94 is set out in the table.

Age	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
11-14	5	2	3	0	4
15-19	39	29	20	21	14
20-24	9	4	5	10	4
25 and over	0	2	11	5	6
Total	53	37	39	36	28

Numbers of substances reported here are based on primary, secondary and tertiary substances abused, so they cannot be interpreted as percentages of total deaths because more than one substance may be involved in a single death.

Doctors

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors who qualified in (a) 1974, (b) 1977, (c) 1980 and (d) 1983 left the profession within five years of qualification. [13652]

Mr. Malone: Figures from the medical careers research group, on doctors known to have left the profession within five years of qualification are shown in the table:

Year of qualification	Number who had left the profession five years after qualification
1974	208
1977	186
1980	228
1983	202

Source:

Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, University of Oxford.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Mr. Trotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the number of price reductions of drugs under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme in each of the last two years. [14043]

(2) what was the total amount repaid to his Department under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme in each of the two most recent years for which figures are available. [14044]

Mr. Malone: Under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, if a company's profits are regarded as above target, a company has the option of either reducing its prices to bring the return back in line with its target or making a repayment of the excess to the department. Almost all companies choose to make repayments.

There have been no examples of price reductions arising from profits above permitted targets under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme in the last two

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 642

years. Information on price reductions will be included in the Department of Health's future reports to Parliament on the PPRS.

Information on repayments of profits above target, or of excess sales promotion, for the 1992 round of annual financial returns was published in the first report to Parliament on the PPRS in May 1996. The figure given there of £25.4 million has now become £25.9 million, following further negotiations with companies. Information on repayments for the 1993 round of annual financial returns will be published in the spring in the Department of Health's second report to Parliament on the PPRS. Negotiations with a number of pharmaceutical companies are continuing and the overall position for 1993 is not finalised.

Heart Disease

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total Government research expenditure on heart disease in 1996-97; and how many people were treated for heart disease in 1996-97. [14008]

Mr. Horam: The table shows the total Government expenditure on research into heart disease for the year 1995-96, the most recent year for which figures are available. Information about the number of people treated for heart disease is not available in the form requested.

Government expenditure on research into heart disease year 1995-96

	£ million
Department of Health and Scottish Office Home and Health Department	0.73
NHS Regional Research and Development	3.43
Medical research council	(13)11.40
Total Government expenditure	15.56

(13) Figure for 1994-95.

Cancer

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total amount of Government research expenditure on cancer in 1996-97; and how many people received treatment for cancer in 1996-97. [14000]

Mr. Horam: Total Government expenditure on cancer research for the year 1995-96 is contained in the table and is the most recent year for which figures are available. Information about the number of people treated for cancer is not available in the form requested.

Government expenditure on cancer research 1995-96

	£ million
Department of Health/Health Departments	(14)9.8
NHS regional research and development	0.4
Medical Research Council	(15)14.8
Total Government expenditure	25.0

(14) Department of Health--Health Departments are broken down as follows: Health and personal social services policy research programme: 1.6

Other Department of Health (radiation protection budget): 1.9

National Radiological Protection Board: 5.5

Scottish Office Home and Health Department: 0.8

(15) Figure for 1994-95.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 643

Dentists

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last discussed with the General Dental Council the issue of extensive unnecessary dental treatment. [14235]

Mr. Malone: Ministers keep in regular contact with the General Dental Council and discuss a wide range of issues, including amendments to the Dentists Act which would allow the GDC to deal differently with dentists guilty of professional misconduct including providing excessive unnecessary treatment.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 23 January, Official Report column 708, how many dentists have been struck off since 1979 by broad heading. [14234]

Mr. Malone: The General Dental Council has erased the names of 75 dentists from the dentists register since 1979. Of these 26 were erased as a result of criminal convictions, 43 for breaches of professional conduct and the remaining six for a combination of criminal conviction and breaches of professional conduct.

5 Feb 1997 : Column: 644

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