§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to ensure that agency nurses employed in NHS hospitals are always suitably qualified and experienced for the wards to which they are allocated.
§ Mr. StewartIn Scotland agencies for the supply of nurses are licensed under part III of the Nurses (Scotland) Act 1951. The licensing authority for nurses agencies in Scotland is the health board for the area in which the agency's premises are situated.
Conditions attached to the granting of a licence are stringent and include a requirement that agencies supply only nurses on the register of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting. These, and other conditions, are enforced by the licensing authority. In addition, my noble Friend the Minister of State announced on 15 June 1992 the intention that all patients would have a named nurse to ensure that in all circumstances suitably qualified and experienced nurses are available to patients.