§ Mr. Harry Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses were employed in hospitals in Scotland at 31 December 1980; and how this compares with the numbers on the same date in each of the previous five years.
§ Mr. FairgrieveFigures for 31 December are not available. The statistics are gathered for 30 September each year; those for 30 September 1980 are provisional. The figures—whole-time equivalent—for the years in question are:
Year Number 1980 53,272 1979 50,801 1978 49,449 1977 48,586 1976 48,838 1975 48,152 Part of the increase from 1979 to 1980 will be only an apparent one: because of the reduction in the working week from 40 to 37½ hours some part-timers working the same hours will be shown as having a larger whole-time equivalent.
§ Mr. Harry Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many nurses were recruited in Scotland during 1980; and how this compares with the intake figures in each of the previous five years;
(2) what is his proposed intake figure for nurses for 1981; and how this compares with each of the previous five years.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe numbers recruited to student and pupil nurse training for the years in question are:
Students Pupils Total 1980 3,165 1,894 5,059 1979 3,284 1,883 5,117 1978 3,173 1,648 4,821 1977 2,594 1,503 5,097 1976 3,068 2,084 5,152 1975 2,815 2,071 4,886 Information is not available centrally on the numbers of trained nurses entering the service as new recruits.
The number of training places available for nurse learners in colleges of nursing and midwifery in 1981 will in general be sufficient to maintain intakes at the levels of recent years. It is for each health board, however, to determine its intake of nurse learners in the light of its priorities and the resources available—including the availability of clinical placements.