§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2002,Official Report, column 1114W, on the School Nursing Service, what steps he is taking to encourage primary care trusts to increase the number of school nurses. [71037]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 18 July 2002]: We recognise the importance of the school nursing contribution to improving the health of children and young people and have taken forward a three-year development programme to strengthen their role.
It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine the school-nursing workforce they require to meet the health needs of the local population. However, lessons from the national development programme are being disseminated to help PCTs develop school nursing services as effectively as possible to improve school age health and deliver on priority areas such as nutrition, smoking cessation and teenage pregnancy.
Since 1997 we have increased the number of nurses working in the National Health Service by over 30,000. We intend to boost their numbers by a further 35,000 by 2008, increasing the available workforce from which school nurses can be drawn.
An extra £100,000 has recently been made available on top of the existing national campaigns to support recruitment; retention and return to practice in primary care including school nursing. Whilst we do not collect data on the numbers of nurses working in the school health service, training establishments show a year on year increase in the number of commissions for specialist school nurse training.
The children's national service framework (NSF) currently being developed will look at the role school nurses can play in delivering improved services to children, young people and their families. The NSF team is working closely with the children's care group workforce team to review the workforce implications of the NSF standards and ensure that workforce-related recommendations are achievable.