§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of medical staff and ancillary staff, in both cases full-time equivalents, in the hospital services overall and per head of population on 1 June 1960, 1 June 1965, 1 June 1970, 1 June 1975, 1 June 1978, 1 June 1979 and 1 June 1980.
§ Sir George YoungIt is not possible to answer the question in the precise form requested because of lack of information on junior hospital medical staff for 1960 and on ancillary staff for 1960 and 1965 and serious problems of coverage and comparability. The earliest year for which consistent information on medical staff is available is 1965 and for ancillary staff working anywhere in the NHS is 1970. The latest year for which information is available is 1979. Figures at 1 June are not available. The table below sets out the best available information.
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Whole-time equivalent staff England as at 30 September 1965 1970 1975 1978 1979 Hospital medical staff*† 17,899 21,387 26,922 29,293 30,356 Hospital medical staff/100,000 population 40 46 58 63 65 Ancillary staff‡ N.A. 160,566 167,726 172,082 ¶170,157 Ancillary staff/100,000 population N.A. 347 362 371 ¶367 N.A.=Not available. * Includes hospital medical staff except locums, hospital practitioners and part-time medical officers. † The figures for 1965 and 1970 are not comparable with those for later years. Prior to 1971, the whole-time equivalent counted for consultants known to hold maximum part-time contracts was 0.8, whereas from 1971 such staff are counted as 1.0. ‡Figures related to all health authority staff and not just to those located in hospitals. Figures for 1970 relate to ancillary staff employed by regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and boards of governors; those for 1975, 1978 and 1979 relate to employees of regional and area health authorities. Following NHS reorganisation on 1 April 1974, staff previously employed by local health authorities were transferred to area health authorities, so that figures since 1974 are not directly comparable with those prior to 1974. Those ancillary staff employed in the community health service cannot be separately distinguished from staff in the hospital service. However, the numbers of ancillary staff employed other than in hospitals are relatively small (around 1 per cent.). ¶Provisional estimate.