§ 38. Mr. John Huntasked the Secretary of State for Social Services in the light of the shortage of speech therapists in the Bromley area and elsewhere, what steps he is taking to encourage a higher level of national recruitment to this service.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe report of the committee of inquiry into the speech therapy services—the Quirk report—issued in 1972, recommended that there should be 350 training places each year by 1982 at the latest. The intake in 1972 was 254 but for 1977 was 350, the target suggested in the Quirk report. Although there is a shortage of speech therapists in some areas, this increase in student intakes should, subject to the availability of resources, be reflected in due course in an increase in recruitment by health authorities.
§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of speech therapists currently employed in the National Health Service; whether there are any plans for this figure to be increased; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EnnalsAt 30th September 1976, the latest date for which comprehensive figures for Great Britain are available, the number of speech therapists employed—whole-time equalivalents—in the NHS was 1,434. This represents an increase of about 530 since 1972, when the Quirk report on speech therapy services was published. Further growth is envisaged for future years towards the long-term targets that were envisaged in that report. Student intakes to the training schools have already reached the level of 350 places which were set in the report as targets for 1982 and this can be expected to result in an increase in the number 467W of qualified speech therapists employed in the NHS over the next few years.