§ Mr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the shortage of physiotherapists within the National Health Service; and what this figure is represented as a percentage of the declared establishment.
§ Mr. Tinnasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the number of vacancies for qualified physiotherapists in each of the hospital regions of England and Wales in each of the five most recent years for which figures are available;
(2) what is the number of qualified physiotherapists entering the profession in each of the five most recent years for which figures are available.
(3) what is the number of qualified physiotherapists in each hospital region of England and Wales at the latest available date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. AlisonThere is no ready yardstick for measuring the need for physiotherapists. There are shortages of physiotherapists and other remedial staff in some areas and in particular hospitals but there is also ample evidence that skills are not being deployed to their best advantage. This needs further study in order to be able to quantify overall shortages.
I am informed by the Registrar of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine that the following numbers of qualified physiotherapists appeared on the State Register for the first time in each of the following years:
48W
1967 1,260 1968 1,148 1969 1,237 1970 1,162 1971 1,104 and that between June, 1967, and June, 1971, the number of physiotherapists on the register increased from 9,171 to 10,611.
During the same period, the numbers of physiotherapists employed in the National Health Service increased by over 10 per cent.; and on 30th September, 1971, the following were the numbers employed in the hospital service in England:
Region Numbers of Physiotherapists (whole-time equivalents) Newcastle 188 Leeds 255 Sheffield 279 East Anglia 135 North-West Metropolitan* 325 North-East Metropolitan* 243 South-East Metropolitan* 298 South-West Metropolitan* 341 London Teaching Hospitals 594 Oxford 218 South Western 354 Birmingham 452 Manchester 371 Liverpool 168 Wessex 206 * Excluding Teaching Hospitals. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales that the equivalent figures were respectively 638 for Scotland and 233 for Wales.
§ Mr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the starting salary of a three-year trained physiotherapist and a senior physiotherapist within the National Health Service.
§ Mr. AlisonThe salaries are:
£ Basic grade physiotherapist 1,110 Senior physiotherapist 1,290
§ Mr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of physiotherapists currently under training within the National Health Service are male.
§ Mr. AlisonThe information is that 3. per cent. of the students at present in National Health Service physiotherapy schools and 32 per cent. of physiotherapists currently in training as teachers are male.