§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of nurses employed by the national health service in 1960 , 1970, 1980 and 1990, or the latest date available and the number of occupied national health service hospital beds for each date, showing the nurse to occupied bed ratio in each case.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 12 November 1990]: The available information is given in the table. Figures for the earlier years cannot be provided on a comparable basis. There is no direct comparison between the manpower and the occupied bed information. The manpower figures relate to the total numbers of nursing and midwifery staff employed in the NHS hospital and community services. However, occupied beds relate to the hospital service only and are not a particularly meaningful measurement of service provision.
NHS nursing and midwifery staff and average number of beds occupied daily—England Number and wholetime equivalents1 Year Nursing and midwifery at September2 Average number of beds occupied daily 1980 370,100 289,500 1986 402,700 254,600 1989 405,300 3— Source: Department of Health (SM13) Annual Census of NHS Non-Medical Manpower and SH3 Returns.
1All figures are independently rounded to the nearest hundred (100).
2Includes all qualified nurses and midwives, learners and unqualified nursing staff and agency staff.
3Information not available centrally beyond 1986.