§ Lady HermonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on nurse recruitment in Northern Ireland during each of the last three years. [98334]
§ Mr. BrowneRecruitment of qualified nursing staff is a matter for HSS Trusts as employers. In recognition of recruitment difficulties, the number of pre-registration nurse training places was increased from 580 to 680 in 2001 and from 680 to 750 in 2002.
The number of qualified nurses and midwifes employed in the HPSS as at 31 December 2000, 2001 and 2002 was 13,607, 13,645 and 14,670 respectively.
There are currently 1,863 pre-registration nursing students with another 160 expected to commence training next month.