§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are employed in the National Health Service; what was the comparable figure for 1979; and if he will break down both figures to show the tasks for which they were employed.
§ Mr. NewtonThe figures requested are shown in the table.
For non-medical staff, numbers (actual head counts) are not available centrally for 1979 on a consistent basis with those for latter years; we have given therefore a whole-time equivalent (WTE) comparison for 1979 and 1986. Whole-time equivalent figures for September 1986 are still on a provisional basis.
For medical and dental staff, figures comparable with the available non-medical figures have been used to retain consistency and comparability of England totals.
379W
NHS directly employed staff—30 September England 1Whole-time equivalents 1979 21986 Medical and dental3 39,000 43,200 Nursing and midwifery4 5358,400 402,100 Professional and technical (excl. works) 660,100 76,100 Works 5,600 5,800 Maintenance 20,100 19,100
1979 21986 Administration and clerical 103,000 111,400 Ambulance 17,100 18,900 Ancillary 6171,900 124,300 Total staff 775,300 801,000 Source:DHSS (SR7) annual censuses of NHS medical and non-medical manpower.
1 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest 100 whole-time equivalent.
2 Provisional.
3 Includes hospital practitioners, part-time medical and dental officers (clinical assistants) and locums.
4 Includes agency nursing and midwifery staff.
5 Not adjusted for the reduction in nurses working hours during 1980–81 (from 40.0 to 37.5 hours per week).
6 Not adjusted to take account of the transfer of operating department assistants (ODAs) some 2,600 wte from ancillary to professional and technical staff group on 1 April 1984.