§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the cost was of the television advertising campaign which described the average nurse as earning over £20,000 per year; [121128]
(2) what the average income is of a nurse, excluding allowances; [121129]
(3) what representations he has received regarding the television advertising campaign which described the average nurse as earning over £20,000 per year; [121130]
(4) who authorised the television advertisement stating that the average nurse earns over £20,000 per year; [121131]
(5) how his Department estimated the average income of a nurse for inclusion in the recent television advertising campaign; and if he will make a statement; [121132]
(6) if he will make a statement about the future of the television advertising campaign to recruit nurses. [121133]
§ Mr. DenhamMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State authorised the recent nurse recruitment campaign 327W which cost £4.2 million and was launched on 28 February, and included television advertising. The campaign will run for three years. The current campaign follows on from the success of last year's recruitment campaign. Over 45,000 people have inquired about a career in the National Health Service, or returning to the NHS, as a result of it.
Recruitment campaigns including local campaigns, are not a one-off exercise and we expect them to become a regular feature of what the NHS does. We will continue to review the success of television advertising and other ongoing activity to recruit and retain staff.
The original television advertisement stated "The average full-time qualified nurse earns over £20,000 per annum". This figure was drawn from the Department of Health annual earnings surveys, which show that from April 1999 gross average annual earnings for qualified nurses working full-time in the NHS were around £20,700.
328WThis figure includes allowances paid for working unsocial hours, but excludes earnings from overtime, earnings for the more senior clinical H and I grades, and nurses in management posts. The average basic salary for all full-time qualified nursing staff, after implementation of the April 2000 pay award is £19,500. Unsocial hours payments bring average earnings for full-time qualified nurses to over £20,000.
Fewer than 20 people have made representations about the advertising campaign. We also received representations from the ITC about the television advertisement. Departmental officials met with the ITC. The ITC accepted our statement was factually correct. To reflect the increase in nurses' pay arising from the 2000–01 pay settlement the wording was changed. This wording was agreed with the ITC. The agreed working was: "From April (2000) average annual earnings for full-time qualified nurses are over £21,000, including allowances".