§ Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will make a statement on the future recruiting policy for midwives, in the light of the submission by the Royal College of Midwives that the recruitment of staff to maternity units is restricted due to the limited allocation of finance.
§ Mr. Alec JonesIndividual health authorities are responsible for assessing their own staff requirements and in doing so will be aware of the need to maintain proper standards of midwifery services.
§ Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what are the figures on the agreed staffing establishment of midwifery training schools in each of the 14 regions of England, and the number of vacancies at the latest available date;
(2) how many practising midwives there were in England during each of the past five years; and how many more midwives are required to bring the numbers up to the full establishment.
§ Mr. Alec JonesThe number of mid-wives in whole-time equivalents employed in the hospital and community health service in the five years to 30th September 1973—the latest available figures—were as follows:
1969 13,841 1970 14,077 1971 14,412 1972 14,667 1973 14,595 There are no nationally determined staffing establishments for midwives or for midwifery training schools, and no information on vacancies is available centrally.