§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the implications for the funding of the NHS of the decision by Gwent area health authority not to employ 10 midwives who completed their training this week at the Royal Gwent hospital.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettI understand that offers of employment will be made by the authority to those of the group who have qualified and wish to remain in Gwent.
Expenditure on education and training is of course a long-term investment and there is invariably a certain amount of mobility among newly qualified staff. Staffing levels are set in the light of local working practices and changing needs and priorities and employing authorities have never been able to give guarantees that posts will be offered to all nurses and midwives on completion of their training.
It is a measure of the success of the new grading structure for clinical nurses and midwives and the attractiveness of the salaries paid to qualified staff that
686W
District Health Authority 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 £ £ £ £ At outturn prices Clwyd 1,150,026 1,326,628 1,296,447 1,407,373 East Dyfed 583,854 834,948 1,001,426 1,154,741 Gwent 3,403,610 3,879,016 3,645,650 3,840,020 Gwynedd 2,686,428 3,166,632 3,398,161 3,492,023 Mid Glamorgan 5,815,668 6,436,055 6,494,660 6,897,613 Pembrokeshire 428,257 435,605 459,992 551,486 Powys 2,496,041 2,799,763 3,026,368 3,394,234 South Glamorgan 3,766,849 4,610,337 5,207,693 5,456,161 West Glamorgan 857,899 1,211,904 1,061,263 1,075,431 Total 21,188,632 24,700,888 25,591,590 27,269,082 At 1990–91 prices Clwyd 1,423,916 1,532,522 1,406,445 1,407,373 East Dyfed 722,905 964,533 1,086,393 1,154,741 Gwent 4,214,214 4,481,044 3,954,968 3,840,020 Gwynedd 3,326,228 3,658,098 3,686,481 3,492,023 Mid Glamorgan 7,200,728 7,434,939 7,045,704 6,897,613 Pembrokeshire 530,251 503,212 498,944 551,486 Powys 3,090,498 3,234,290 3,283,143 3,394,234 South Glamorgan 4,663,962 5,325,867 5,649,544 5,456,161 West Glamorgan 1,062,216 1,399,993 1,151,307 1,075,431 Total 26,234,918 28,534,498 27,762,929 27,269,082 there has been a general improvement in retention rates throughout Wales, particularly in the more senior grades. In Gwent, the turn-over rate for midwives has reduced very significantly over the past two years and projected vacancies have not materialised. The NHS in Wales has made considerable progress in the area of manpower planning and the Department is working closely with the service—through the manpower resource group—to monitor and strengthen the planning process to ensure that the training and supply of professional staff correlates closely to predicted staffing requirements.