§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operating department practitioner vacancies there are(a) in England and (b) in the north-west region. [85433]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 7 December 2002]: Separate information about operating department practitioners is not collected centrally. Vacancies for operating theatre staff, which include operating department practitioners, in England and the northwest are shown in the following table.
Department of Health vacancies survey, March 2002 qualified operating theatre staff vacancies in NHS trusts in England and the north-west regional office area—3 month vacancy rates England North-west Operating theatre staff (excluding HA staff) 3 month vacancy rate (percentage) 4.8 3.6 3 month vacancy rate (number) 210 20 Staff in post (wte) 4,110 540 Staff in post (hc) 4,300 560 1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2002.
2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents).
3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey and the Consultant Census, March 2002.
5. Staff in post data are from the Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2001
6. Staff in post data excludes staff employed by health authorities, as vacancy information was only collected from trusts, PCTs and special health authorities.
7. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
8. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
9. Due to rounding, calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.
10. Figures may not match previously published data due to a different method of rounding used on the staff in post data.
Sources:
Vacancy numbers and rates: Department of Health Vacancies Survey March 2002 and Consultant Census March 2002.
Non medical staff in post: Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2001
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the consultations undertaken by his Department prior to the announcement that operating department practitioner trainees should be paid a student bursary or grant rather than a salary. [85435]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 5 December 2002]: The announcement concerning operating department practitioner (ODP) trainees set out new additional arrangements by which students would be eligible to apply for national health service funded bursaries. This does not remove or preclude existing routes for employees wishing to pursue ODP education through secondment opportunities funded by their employers.
The announcement was made following consultation by the association of operating department practitioners on the changes to registerable qualifications and the 174W need to find new education routes to support the increased numbers of ODPs required to deliver service commitments.