§ Dr. Kim HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he intends to take on the problem of medical physicists leaving National Health Service hospitals in south Wales.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe number of medical physicists—whole-time equivalents—employed by health authorities in Wales over the past four years is given in the table. The management side of the Scientific and Professional Staffs Council is currently investigating the recruitment and retention of scientists, including medical physicists, within the NHS generally.
In Wales, medical physicists have been included in staff groups designated for detailed scrutiny as part of the 1989 manpower resource planning exercise being undertaken by all district health authorities under the auspices of the manpower steering group, established by my Department, with the intention of examining manpower requirements over the next 10 years. Those plans will also examine wastage and recruitment rates for the purpose of identifying potential staffing difficulties and to enable action to be taken at the local or all-Wales level to forestall problems. Work is also in hand by the manpower steering group on a study of medical physics and bio-engineering in the NHS in Wales, which will address the question of staff retention, particularly in the area of equipment management.
272W
WTE as at 30 September Health Authority 1985 1986 1987 1988 Clwyd 5.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 East Dyfed1 — — — — Gwent1 — — — — Gwynedd 2.0 2.0 4.0 3.0 Mid Glamorgan1 — — — — Pembs1 — — — — Powys1 — — — — South Glamorgan 37.0 37.0 34.0 32.0 West Glamorgan 11.0 10.8 12.8 15.7 Wales 55.0 53.8 54.8 53.7 1 Medical physics services for these authorities are provided by the relevant departments in the four authorities which do employ medical physicists.