Mr. Alan Williamsasked the Minister of Health (1) what relationship there is between the number of paediatric nurses and the number of children's hospital beds in Wales; and how this figure compares with that for England;
(2) how the number of paediatric nurses in Wales compares with that in England, in relation to the number of births each year;
(3) how many paediatric nurses there are in Wales in relation to population; and how this figure compares with that for England.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonAs the number of registered sick children's nurses employed in hospitals in England is not centrally know, it is not possible to make these comparisons. But in Wales there were at the end of 1965 41 registered sick children's nurses employed in hospitals and 602 beds under the control of paediatricians. In 1965 there were 36,602 births in hospitals in Wales and the population of Wales is 2,692,760.
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Mr. Alan Williamsasked the Minister of Health how many paediatric nurses are trained each year; and how many of these are trained in Wales.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonI am informed by the General Nursing Council that in 1965 600 nurses qualified as registered sick children's nurses; the answer to the second part of the Question is none.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the Minister of Health what is the criterion for assessing whether an area can support a training centre for paediatric nurses.
§ Mr. LoughlinThis is a matter for the General Nursing Council but I understand that they require schools training sick children's nurses to give an adequate range of experience and to have at least 150 beds for the care of sick children, with an average daily occupation of 120.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the Minister of Health how the distances between the hospitals in the Glantawe Hospital Board compare with the distances between sister hospitals in England which possess a training centre for paediatric nurses.
§ Mr. LoughlinDistances between hospitals administered by the Glantawe Hospital Management Committee vary between about half a mile and about 30 miles. Training schools for sick children's nurses in England which are not contained within one children's hospital are normally in two or three hospitals fairly close together, though in one case two children's hospitals about 40 miles apart are linked.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the Minister of Health how many nurses from Wales trained in England as paediatric nurses in each of the last five years; and how many of these nurses returned to Wales after completing their training.
§ Mr. LoughlinThis information is not available.