§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) occupational therapists, (b) physiotherapists, (c) chiropodists and (d) radiotherapists are currently employed in the National Health Service: how many of each it is estimated are currently needed; what steps he is taking to encourage recruitment and training; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. VaughanOn 30 September 1978, the latest date for which comprehensive figures are available, there were on a
230Wshowing one and two parent families separately. I regret that sample sizes are too small to show a complete breakdown by family size for one-parent families. It would be statistically misleading to obtain this by subtraction of the two-parent family figures from the total.
whole-time equivalent basis 2,385 occupational therapists, 6,149 physiotherapists, 1,624 chiropodists and 6,414 radiographers (including 693 therapy radiographers) in employment in the NHS in England. These figures exclude chiropodists who undertake NHS work on a fee per treatment basis. There are no generally accepted norms against which to measure the need for more staff in these professions, and it is in practice doubtful whether effective general norms could at present be developed. It is for employing authorities to decide their priorities in recruitment, and in general they continue to indicate a wish for some increase in 231W staffing in these fields. So far as resources constraints permit, the output of training schools is intended broadly to reflect employment demand, and the situation is kept under regular review by health and education departments, health authorities and the professional associations.