§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in theOfficial Report the number of fully qualified midwives in each health board area and show that figure as a percentage of the recommended level of fully trained midwifery staff for each board area.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThere is no centrally recommended level for midwifery staffing. Health boards set their own staffing levels according to their local circumstances. The table shows the whole-time equivalent numbers of qualified staff employed by health boards in hospital and community maternity services at 30 September 1987. Statistics are not held centrally by qualification and although the majority of those recorded are qualified midwives the figure includes a small number of registered nurses who have no midwifery qualification and who work in areas such as special care baby units. Also included in the table are about 700 combined duty nurses working in the community who are qualified midwives but who do not work exclusively in maternity services. Enrolled nurses are excluded.
Whole-time equivalents Scotland 3,365.3 Argyll and Clyde 296.3 Ayrshire and Arran 220.0 Borders 83.3 Dumfries and Galloway 122.4 Fife 167.1 Forth Valley 183.6 Grampian 325.1 Greater Glasgow 652.7 Highland 220.7 Lanarkshire 277.8 Lothian 388.1 Orkney 27.4 Shetland 28.3 Tayside 314.8 Western Isles 57.7