§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the fact that in various regions there are fully trained nurses who are unable to obtain positions in hospitals because the hospital 131W authorities are not able to pay them the required salaries, if he will take steps to make increased funds available to remedy this situation and what was the nurse-patient ratio in National Health Service hospitals in each year since 1970 to the latest available date.
§ Mr. MoyleFinance is only one of a number of factors which may influence health authorities' recruitment of qualified nurses. I understand that some of the nurses who register as unemployed are unwilling to work other than limited hours, have poor sickness records or reside in localities where there is no immediate demand for their services.
The ratio of nurses—in whole-time equivalents—to occupied beds was as follows:
1970 1:1.56 1971 1:1.49 1972 1:1.38 1973 1:1.30 1974 1:1.25 1975 1:1.12 1976* 1:1.09 *provisional