To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made for benchmarking purposes of average pay for general practitioners in (a) the UK, (b) other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and (c) other EU countries. (233808)

Since the introduction of the new general practitioner (GP) contract in 2004, GP practices in the UK have been able to increase their income by increasing the range and quality of services they provide for their patients, for example by extending their surgery opening times. This is reflected in the average pay of a general practitioner partner. It is not possible to compare the level and quality of services provided in the UK with that in other countries and any benchmarking of average pay would therefore be of very limited value.