§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS speech and language therapy staff have been employed in each of the last seven years. [135167]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is shown in the table. Between September 1997 and 2002, the number of qualified speech and language therapists employed in the national health service has increased by 1,089 or 22 per cent
NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified speech and language therapy staff in England as at 30 September each specified year Headcount Whole-time equivalents 1996 4,705 3,585 1997 4,871 3,742 1998 5,031 3,831 1999 5,185 3,939 2000 5,430 4,066 2001 5,685 4,207 2002 5,960 4,365 Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source:
Department of Health Non-medical Workforce Census.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the vacancy rates for speech and language staff, broken down by primary care trust area. [135168]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation on the rate of vacancies lasting three months or more for speech and language therapists for each primary care trust organisation has been placed in the Library. As at March 2003, the three-month vacancy rate in England was 3.2 per cent., a fall from 5.2 per cent. in the previous year.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hours per child subject is spent on average a year by speech and language therapists. [135169]
225W
§ Dr. LadymanInformation is not collected centrally which would enable an estimate to be made. Time spent will vary widely between different children, depending on their clinical needs.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England are receiving therapy from NHS speech and language professionals in England, broken down by primary care trust area. [135170]
§ Dr. LadymanInformation on the numbers of children receiving therapy is not collected centrally.226W Information on initial contacts, to new episodes of care, is available for the age group 0–15 years, but is broken down by provider, not by primary care trust area.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech and language therapy sessions there were on average per week for each NHS patient receiving such treatment in each of the past five years. [134855]
§ Dr. LadymanThis information is not collected centrally.