HC Deb 04 November 2002 vol 392 cc129-30W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time it took to get through to NHS Direct was over(a) the last month for which figures are available and (b) the previous six months. [77141]

Mr. Lammy

The average time it took to get through to NHS Direct in September 2002 was 55.73 seconds. The figures for the previous six months are shown in the table.

Month Seconds
March 2002 74.79
April 2002 61.42
May 2002 59.45
June 2002 69.37
July 2002 69.43
August 2002 66.87

Mr Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the number of nurses working on NHS Direct at each grade. [77603]

Mr. Lammy

At present, the number of nurses working on NHS Direct at each grade is not collected centrally. The nurse grade structure for NHS Direct mainly consists of F and G grade nurses offering medical advice. NHS Direct accounts nationally for around 1,100 (whole time equivalent) nurses, a small number against the overall size of the nursing workforce 346,000 -whole time equivalent—in England. The service had and will continue to follow a range of strategies to minimise the impact of its recruitment on other parts of the National Health Service.