Family doctors

There were 28,937 GPs in England in October 1997. By 1996, nearly a third were female, compared with just over a fifth in 1986.

The contribution made by the Voluntary Sector

The voluntary sector plays an important role in supporting patients and health services. The Government gives grants to a large number of voluntary organisations working in health and personal social services in recognition of the valuable work they do.

The money - ₤59 million in 1996-1997 goes mainly to national organisations dealing with:

children people from ethnic minorities

older people people with HIV/AIDS

carers people suffering from drug or alcohol misuse.

In Scotland, Government grants for 1996-1997 amounted to ₤9 million. In Northern Ireland the Department of Health and Social Services spent ₤6.4 million in 1996-1997 to support voluntary work in the health service.

Private medicine

About 11 per cent of the population in Britain is covered by private medical insurance and it is estimated that about three quarters of people receiving treatment in private hospitals or NHS pay beds are funded by health insurance schemes.

NHS patients are occasionally treated in the private sector (at public expense) in cases where doctors and managers consider it will be good value for money. The scale of private medicine compared to the NHS, however, is small.

Many overseas patients come to be treated in British private hospitals: Harley Street in London is world famous as a centre for medical consultants.

Personal Social Services

Social services provide ₤10 billion worth of care a year to vulnerable or disadvantage members of society. They cover the whole age range to provide for the poorly cared-for child to people who are approaching the end of their life. In between they care for people with mental health problems, physical disability or learning disabilities.

Personal social services are the responsibility of local social services authorities in England and Wales, social work departments in Scotland and health and social services boards in Northern Ireland.

The main services they provide are:

• residential care

• day care

• services for those confined to home and

• various forms of social work.

Social Services spending

• In 1997-1998, current expenditure in England on Personal Social Services was ₤10 billion, or about ₤200 per head

• Services for children and older people accounted for nearly three-quarters of spending

• The single biggest item of expenditure was residential care for older people

• All but two per cent of the remainder was for people with a mental illness, or physical or learning disabilities

• Spending on residential services accounted for just under half of the total

Modernising Social Services

In November 1998 the Government announced a new ₤3 billion programme to reform social services in a White Paper Modernising Social Services. The Paper proposes ways of making sure local councils, the NHS, voluntary bodies and commercial providers work together to deliver improvements, which include:

• promoting chances for people to live independent, fulfilling lives

• improving the protection of vulnerable people

• raising the standards of services

The White Paper introduces plans for:

• a commission for care standards, an independent watchdog for each English region to regulate services whether they are provided in people's own homes, through organisations such as fostering agencies or in residential homws

• new national standards of performance for local authorities and annual reports an what councils have achieved or not achieved

• children's rights officers to inspect children's homes

• the General Social Council, whose job will be to ensure the proper regulation and training of all the social care workforce