§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons were employed in the National Health Service hospital service at the most recent date for which figures are available; how many of the total were non-medical staff; and if he will provide comparable information for each of the previous 10 years.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergAt 30 September 1981 the total number of directly employed staff in the National72W Health Service in England is provisionally estimated at 820,700—whole-time equivalents—of whom some 781,700 were non-medical staff. Comparable information for each of the previous 10 years is shown in the following table. It is not possible satisfactorily to identify staff employed in the hospital service.
NHS directly employed staff*† England—30 September
Whole-time equivalent staff Year Non-medical staff‡ Total staff 1971 601,500 629,700 1972 625,800 655,200 1973 633,500 664,300 1974 642,100 673,600 1975 684,300 717,300 1976 708,400 742,500 1977 712,700 747,700 1978 723,800 759,700 1979 736,300 773,400 1980 753,600 791,800 * Following NHS reorganisation on 1 April 1974, staff previously employed by local authority health departments were transferred to Area Health Authorities. Figures for 1971 to 1973 have been corrected for this, but a direct comparison with figures for 1974 to 1981 is unreliable. † Excludes general medical and dental practitioners and other independent contractors. ‡ Includes nursing and midwifery, professional and technical, works, maintenance, administrative and clerical, ambulance and ancillary staff.