HC Deb 26 July 1965 vol 717 cc18-21W
66 and 67. Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smith

asked the Minister of Health (1) how many nurses have been recruited in England and Wales per 10,000 of the population; and what information he has, through the World Health Organisation, on recruitment figures for the United States of America and for other European countries;

(2) what is the proportion per 10,000 of the population of trained nurses, nurses in training and auxiliary staff, respectively in England and Wales; and what information he has, through the World Health Organisation, on recruitment figures for the United States of America and for other European countries.

Mr. Loughlin

The figures are not comparable, because the current figures for England and Wales are for nursing staff employed only in the National Health Service and the World Health Organisation figures, for dates ranging from 1960 to 1962, purport to include all nursing staff, with wider definitions than are used in my Department's statistics.

The numbers of nursing staff employed per 10,000 of the population are as follows:

A.—ENGLAND AND WALES. 31ST MARCH, 1965
Qualified Nurses (Registered and Enrolled) Nurses in Training (Students and Pupils) Unqualified Nursing Staff Total Nursing Staff
Hospital and Local Health Authority Nursing Staff per 10,000 of Population 24.3 13.6 13.3 51.2
B.—EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(Extracted from the World Health Organisation publication "Annual Epidemiological and Vital Statistics, 1961")
Nursing Personnel per 10,000 of Population (Note 1)
Country Date Fully Qualified and Certificated Nurses (Note 2) Other Nursing Personnel (Note 3) Total
Albania 1961 18.1 18.1
Austria (Note 4) 1961 24.1 24.1
Belgium No data available
Bulgaria 1961 16.8 16.8
Czechoslovakia 1962 35.9 (Note 6) 7.6 43.5 (Note 6)
Denmark 1960 37.4 8.7 46.1
Faroe Islands 1960 18.0 6.0 24.0
Finland 1962 42.1 12.5 54.6
France 1961 18.4 18.4
Germany (Federal Republic) 1962 25.9 4.7 30.6
West Berlin 1962 55.6 7.8 63.4
Gibraltar 1961 14.2 52.9 67.1
Greece 1960 3.4 6.2 9.6
Hungary 1961 21.9 2.3 24.2
Iceland 1960 14.0 5.0 19.0
Ireland (Note 5) 1961 52.5 52.5
Italy 1961 7.7 (Note 6) (Note 7) (Notes 6 and 7)
Luxembourg 1962 22.6 8.7 31.3
Malta and Gozo 1961 5.0 10.9 15.9
Netherlands (Note 4) 1961 11.4 6.9 18.3
Norway 1961 29.0 (Note 6) (Note 7) (Notes 6 and 7)
Poland 1962 19.6 (Note 7) (Note 7)
Portugal 1962 3.8 (Note 6) 3.0 6.8 (Note 6)
Roumania 1962 16.8 7.9 24.7
Spain No data available
Sweden 1961 90.5 90.5
Switzerland 1961 31.3 31.3
Yugoslavia 1961 4.6 (Note 6) 10.6 15.2 (Note 6)
United States of America 1962 42.4 22.4 64.8
Notes
1. Nursing personnel are not always classified in the national statistics in accordance with the headings in the W.H.O. table and it is possible that some categories of personnel are not in their correct place. For this reason it is not always possible to obtain exact and comparable figures for the different countries.
2. "Certificated nurses" are defined as persons who though having obtained a certificate, did not receive a professional education and training as complete as the fully qualified nurses. For certain countries, nurses without a State Diploma, but whose exact qualifications were not clearly stated, have also been included here.
3. "Others" are said to be for the most part auxiliary staff (examples are—assistant nurses, hospital assistants, nursing aids, ward attendants, medical orderlies). Where student nurses were mentioned specifically they have been included in this column.
4. Hospital Nursing personnel only.
5. Includes Midwifery personnel.
6. "Certificated nurses" not included: data not available.
7. Details of "other nursing personnel" not available.

Lord Balniel

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking in the autumn to improve the recruiting to the nursing profession; how much is to be spent on the campaign; and whether the campaign is designed to encourage recruiting to the domiciliary services as well as to the hospital service.

Mr. K. Robinson

I plan to launch a national publicity campaign in September. It will have two main objects: to bring up to date the image of nursing in the public mind and to improve public knowledge of the status and training of the State Enrolled Nurse. The campaign, will cost about £110,000 in the current financial year. Since it is designed to attract new entrants into the profession the domiciliary services also should benefit.