§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cancer consultants there are
Hospital Medical Consultants in the Cancer Specialties by Strategic Health Authority each Year1 numbers (headcount) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 March 20021 England 3,160 3,270 3,360 3,530 3,720 3,860 Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire 130 140 130 150 170 190 Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire 90 100 90 90 90 100 Birmingham & The Black Country 150 150 160 160 180 180 Cheshire & Merseyside 170 180 190 200 200 210 Country Durham & Tees Valley 60 70 70 70 70 70 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire 90 90 100 90 100 100 Cumbria & Lancashire 100 110 110 110 110 100 Dorset & Somerset 70 70 70 80 80 80 Essex 70 70 70 70 80 80 Greater Manchester 210 200 210 210 220 230 Hampshire & Isle of Wight 110 120 120 130 150 160 Kent & Medway 80 80 80 90 90 90 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 80 80 90 90 100 100 Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire 160 170 180 190 190 200 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 80 90 100 90 110 110 North Central London 150 160 170 150 170 180 North East London 70 70 80 80 110 120 North West London 210 200 190 230 230 240 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear 120 130 120 130 150 150 Shropshire & Staffordshire 70 70 70 80 80 80 South East London 130 140 140 140 170 170 South West London 70 90 100 100 110 110 South West Peninsula 90 80 80 100 100 110 South Yorkshire 90 90 100 110 110 110 Surrey & Sussex 150 150 140 150 150 160 Thames Valley 150 150 160 170 170 190 Trent 150 160 160 170 150 150 West Yorkshire 170 170 180 170 180 190 Special Hospitals * — — — — — National Blood authority — 20 40 40 40 40 Notes:
1Data for 1997 to 2001 is at 30 September, 2002 data is at 31 March.
"*" denotes five or less than five
"—" denotes zero
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
498W(a) with the NHS and (b) broken down by health authority; and what the figures were for each year since 1997; [75780]
(2) how many (a) lung, (b) breast, (c) prostate, (d) ovarian and (e) leukaemia cancer specialists there are within the NHS; and what the figures were for each year since 1997. [75786]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation on the number of lung, breast, prostate, ovarian and leukaemia cancer specialists within the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
The Department collects data on the number of consultants within medical oncology, clinical oncology, histopathology, clinical radiology, haematology and palliative medicine. Collectively, these are referred to as the cancer specialties.
Data relating to the total number of cancer specialist consultants in England and by Strategic Health Authority are shown in the following table.
499WThe number of cancer specialists employed in the NHS is growing. As at March 2002, there were 3,860 cancer specialists (rounded to the nearest 10). This represents an increase of 22 per cent. since September 1997.