§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many staff are employed in the ambulance services of each regional health authority and in each group of district health authorities which organise their services jointly, distinguishing between front line staff and support staff at December 1982 and at the latest available date.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 17 February 1984, column 355]: The information requested is in the following table. The September 1983 figures are provisional. There is no standard definition of "front-line" ambulance staff, but if the hon. Member would like to write to me defining the group she has in mind I shall be glad to supply the figures if they are available to me.
500W
Ambulance Staff (including officers) (whole-time equivalents) December 1982 September 1983 (provisional) South Tees 270 280 East Cumbria 240 240 Durham 310 310 Headquarters and Units 660 660 Total Northern Region 1,470 1,480 Beverley 400 410 York 290 280 Headquarters and Units 940 940 Total Yorkshire Region 1,630 1,630 Southern Derbyshire 400 410 Leicestershire 330 330 North Lincolnshire 280 280 Nottingham 420 420 Headquarters and Units 470 460 Total Trent Region 1,890 1,900 Cambridge 180 190 East Suffolk 170 170 Norwich 280 280 Total East Anglian Region 630 640 North Bedfordshire 170 170 East Hertfordshire 300 290 Total North West Thames Region* 480 470 Mid-Essex 570 560 Total North East Thames Region* 570 570 Eastbourne 310 320 Medway 630 620 Total South East Thames Region* 940 940 East Surrey 400 410 Worthing 230 230 Total South West Thames Region* 630 630 Total London Ambulance Services* 2,490 2,520 East Dorset 230 230 Winchester 470 460 Swindon 200 200 Isle of Wight 50 50 Headquarters and Units 10 — Total Wessex Region 950 940 Aylesbury Vale 220 210 Oxfordshire 160 170 Northampton and West Berkshire 370 370 Total Oxford Region 760 750 Bristol and Weston 340 350 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 230 230
December 1982 September 1983 (provisional) Exeter 470 480 Gloucester 230 230 Somerset 150 150 Total South Western Region 1,430 1,440 Worcester 260 260 Shropshire 160 160 Mid-Staffordshire 370 390 South Warwickshire 160 160 Headquarters and Units 900 920 Total West Midlands Region 1,850 1,890 Cheshire 310 310 Headquarters and units 560 580 Total Mersey Region 870 890 Preston 620 630 Headquarters and Units 1,080 1,080 Total North Western Region 1,700 1,700 Total England 18,300 18,400 Notes: * The London ambulance service covers parts of each of the Thames regions. † Because of rounding, the sums of the sub-region figures are not always equal to region totals.