§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the shortfall of(a) nurses, (b) general practitioners, (c) cancer specialists and (d) consultants in (i) St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority, (ii) Merseyside, (iii) the North West and (iv) England. [71279]
§ Mr. HuttonThe Government's plans for increasing the size of the national health service work force were set out in the NHS Plan and our manifesto before the last election. Both targets for increasing nurse numbers have been met ahead of schedule. Our latest projection for 2008 is 35,000 more nurses than there were in 2001. This has not been broken down by strategic health authority (StHA).
The NHS Plan set a target of 2,000 more general practitioners (GPs) and 7,500 consultants in England by 2004, over the 1999 baseline. To date, there has been an increase of 483 GPs and 3,130 consultants. The target has been broken down by StHA level. Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority have an envelope of 141 more GPs and 377 more consultants by 2004.
The number of cancer specialists employed in the NHS is growing. As at March 2002, there were 3,857 cancer specialists in England. This represents an increase of 17 per cent. since 1999. We are on track to hit the target set out in the Cancer Plan of nearly 1,000 extra cancer consultants by 2006, this target has not been broken down by StHA.
Length of delayed discharge—patients of all ages—quarter 4 2001–02 National and regional summary Area Total delayed less than 8 days Total delayed 8–14 days Total delayed 14–28 days Total delayed more than 28 days Percentage delays less than 8 days (ail ages) Percentage delays 8–14 days (all ages) Percentage delays 14–28 days (all ages) Percentage delays more than 28 days (all ages) Percentage HAs included in analysis England 1,323 1,067 1,130 1,968 24.1 19.4 20.6 35.9 95.8 Northern and Yorkshire 125 72 92 126 30.1 17.3 22.2 30.4 92.3 Trent 113 49 71 61 38.4 16.7 24.1 20.7 100.0 West Midlands 247 153 124 185 34.8 21.6 17.5 26.1 100.0 North West 119 115 93 143 25.3 24.5 19.8 30.4 93.8 Eastern — 120 118 205 — 27.3 26.8 46.6 85.7 London 104 163 190 404 12.1 18.9 22.0 46.9 92.9 South East 299 254 278 611 20.7 17.6 19.3 42.4 100.0 South West 316 141 164 233 37.0 16.5 19.2 27.3 100.0
Health authority summary Health authority Total delayed less than 8 days Total delayed 8–14 days Total delayed 14–28 days Total delayed more than 28 days Percentage delays less than 8 days (all ages) Percentage delays 8–14 days (all ages) Percentage delays 14–28 days (all ages) Percentage delays more than 28 days (all ages) HA included Bradford 9 0 2 0 81.8 0.0 18.2 0.0 Yes County Durham and Darlington 12 6 5 7 40.0 20.0 16.7 23.3 Yes East Riding and Hull 7 2 6 6 33.3 9.5 28.6 28.6 Yes Gateshead and South Tyneside 7 6 14 15 16.7 14.3 33.3 35.7 Yes Leeds 10 5 16 32 15.9 7.9 25.4 50.8 Yes Newcastle and North Tyneside 23 4 8 11 50.0 8.7 17.4 23.9 Yes North Cumbria 4 10 11 44 5.8 14.5 15.9 63.8 Yes Northumberland 0 0 0 0 0 — — — Yes Sunderland 15 9 3 4 48.4 29.0 9.7 12.9 Yes Tees 31 21 15 6 42.5 28.8 20.5 8.2 Yes