§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses left permanent nursing jobs to work for agencies in(a) 1997 and (b) 1998. [67381]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation on the number of nurses who left permanent nursing jobs to work for agencies is not available centrally.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant nursing posts there are currently. [67374]
§ Mr. DenhamBased on various figures from various sources, there are probably in the region of 9,000 vacancies lasting three months or longer.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the shortage of nurses. [67372]
§ Mr. DenhamWe recognise that staff shortages, particularly in nursing, are a major concern for National Health Service employers seeking to deliver high quality patient care. Many of the problems stem from the decision, made under the previous Administration, to cut the number of training places. This year, 16,873 student nurses are expected to start training—the highest figure for six years. If nurse training since 1992 had matched the current level, there could now be an extra 11,000 nurses available in the NHS today.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent on agency nurses in each year between 1979 and 1999. [67377]
§ Mr. DenhamThe table contains data outlining the expenditure on nurses not employed directly by the National Health Service for the years 1987–88 to 1997–88. Information on the cost of nurses not employed directly by the NHS prior to 1987–88 is not available.
346W
Year Expenditure 1997–98 prices (£) 1997–98 216,338,567 1996–97 196,475,548 1995–96 176,296,636
Year Expenditure 1997–98 prices (£) 1994–95 144,526,300 1993–94 116,764,528 1992–93 115,750,219 1991–92 121,044,540 1990–91 149,647,856 1189–90 180,869,011 1988–89 164,858,723 1987–88 142,003,654 Note:
The 1997–98 figure is provisional.
Source:
1. Annual financial returns of NHS trusts, 1991–92 to 1997–98.
2. Annual financial returns of health authorities, 1996–97 and 1997–98.
3. Annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1991–92 to 1995–96.
4. Annual accounts of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1987–88 to 1990–91.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent by the NHS in 1997 and 1998 to recruit nurses, broken down by health authority. [67376]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information requested is not available centrally.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken to tackle the shortage of nurses; and how much this action has cost, broken down by project, over the last year. [67382]
§ Mr. DenhamWe have agreed the best, real terms pay rise for nurses for 10 years, backed with a £100 million allocation from the Modernisation Fund. On 1 February, a high profile, multi-media nurse recruitment campaign was launched. This builds on the £50 million package which was announced last September to expand part-time training places, target enrolled nurses to retrain and return to the National Health Service (2,700 over the next three years) and widen access to training and support existing NHS staff to become qualified nurses (200 staff this year and 1,000 in the following three years). In addition, an extra £4 million was allocated in 1998–99 specifically to support "return to practice" initiatives on getting former nurses back to the NHS.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of UK trained nurses who are of working age and who are currently not working as nurses. [67383]
§ Mr. DenhamAnalysis of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Register suggests that up to 140,000 qualified nurses, under 55 years old, are not working as nurses.
§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce more family friendly employment practices for nurses. [67379]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Human Resources Framework (Health Service Circular 1998/162) is a major step forward in our drive to meet the aspirations of both staff and employers in the provision of flexible employment policies and working practices to reconcile work and 347W family life. Work being undertaken by the Government's Women's Unit, and the development of a series of resource packs, aims to share innovation, good practice and support their local implementation.