HC Deb 12 April 1983 vol 40 cc393-5W
Mr. Penhaligon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for the district health authorities in England the ratio of health visitors, district nurses and midwives to the population.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

[pursuant to his reply, 22 November 1982, c. 367]: Information about the ratios of health visitors, district nurses and midwives to population related to district health authorities is not available. The latest figures cover those employed by the former area health authorities in September 1981 and are as follows.

Ratio of staff (WTE) per thousand of managed population 1981
Health Visitors* District Nursing Staff† Midwives‡
Northern RHA
Cleveland 0.19 0.34 0.38
Cumbria 0.21 0.44 0.32
Durham 0.18 0.29 0.32
Northumberland 0.19 0.29 0.27
Gateshead 0.19 0.30 0.25
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 0.24 0.31 0.55
North Tyneside 0.22 0.38 0.19
South Tyneside 0.17 0.32 0.31
Sunderland 0.20 0.31 0.32
Yorkshire RHA
Humberside 0.18 0.28 0.27
North Yorkshire 0.20 0.31 0.30
Bradford 0.25 0.39 0.43
Calderdale 0.16 0.33 0.32
Kirklees 0.24 0.34 0.42
Leeds 0.20 0.25 0.30
Wakeneld 0.03 0.30 0.45

Health Visitors* District Nursing Staff† Midwives‡
Trent RHA
Derbyshire 0.18 0.29 0.31
Leicestershire 0.19 0.29 0.32
Lincolnshire 0.18 0.30 0.28
Nottinghamshire 0.20 0.29 0.40
Barnsley 0.19 0.28 0.35
Doncaster 0.18 0.30 0.35
Rotherham 0.17 0.31 0.35
Sheffield 0.18 0.36 0.38
East Anglia RHA
Cambridgeshire 0.20 0.32 0.38
Norfolk 0.09 0.28 0.38
Suffolk 0.17 0.27 0.32
North West Thames RHA
Bedfordshire 0.16 0.16 0.28
Hertfordshire 0.20 0.26 0.29
Barnet 0.19 0.22 0.30
Brent/Harrow 0.24 0.25 0.29
Ealing/Hammersmith/Hounslow 0.25 0.32 0.36
Hillingdon 0.19 0.25 0.28
Kensington/Chelsea/Westminster 0.25 0.35 0.44
North East Thames RHA
Essex 0.17 0.21 0.27
Barking/Havering 0.15 0.25 0.33
Camden/Islington 0.16 0.34 0.51
City and East London 0.22 0.32 0.46
Enfield/Haringey 0.19 0.26 0.37
Redbridge/Waltham Forest 0.17 0.33 0.35
South East Thames RHA
East Sussex 0.23 0.40 0.22
Kent 0.16 0.32 0.33
Greenwich/ Bexley 0.16 0.40 0.43
Bromley 0.20 0.23 0.32
Lambeth/Lewisham/Southwark 0.22 0.34 0.43
South West Thames RHA
Surrey 0.22 0.32 0.28
West Sussex 0.20 0.31 0.28
Croydon 0.18 0.26 0.29
Kingston/ Richmond 0.27 0.45 0.25
Merton/Sutton/ Wandswoith 0.23 0.31 0.44
Wessex RHA
Dorset 0.17 0.33 0.21
Hampshire 0.21 0.30 0.32
Wiltshire 0.20 0.23 0.33
Isle of Wight 0.16 0.35 0.35
Oxford RHA
Berkshire 0.21 0.31 0.32
Buckinghamshire 0.24 0.30 0.35
Northamptonshire 0.25 0.35 0.36
Oxfordshire 0.08 0.31 0.29
South Western RHA
Avon 0.21 0.28 0.27
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 0.20 0.30 0.17
Devon 0.18 0.32 0.29
Gloucestershire 0.19 0.34 0.29

Health Visitors* District Nursing Staff† Midwives‡
Somerset 0.23 0.28 0.20
West Midlands RHA
Hereford and Worcester 0.22 0.39 0.23
Salop 0.21 0.31 0.24
Staffordshire 0.19 0.29 0.19
Warwickshire 0.22 0.35 0.33
Birmingham 0.15 0.30 0.39
Coventry 0.20 0.33 0.25
Dudley 0.20 0.31 0.28
Sandwell 018 0.26 0.19
Solihull 019 0.30 0.59
Walsall 0.20 0.25 O30
Wolverhampton 0.19 0.22 0.43
Mersey RHA
Cheshire 0.18 0.31 0.32
Liverpool 0.18 0.34 0.43
St. Helens/Knowsley 0.19 0.28 0.31
Sefton 0.23 0.33 0.46
Wirral 0.21 0.28 0.45
North Western RHA
Lancashire 0.24 0.37 0.35
Bolton 0.24 0.29 0.43
Bury 0.25 0.37 0.38
Manchester 0.20 0.42 0.61
Oldham 0.26 0.50 0.31
Rochdale 0.25 0.31 0.42
Salford 0.13 0.45 0.32
Stockport 0.23 0.34 0.41
Tameside 0.17 0.32 0.42
Trafford 0.18 0.39 0.32
Wigan 0.24 0.41 0.39
* Includes district nurse health visitor/midwife joint-duty staff.
† Includes SRN and SEN with and without district training, and district nurse/midwife joint duty staff.
‡ Includes hospital and community staff. Includes agency midwives.

Note: The staffing figures on which the above ratios are based are taken from the DHSS census of non-medical manpower. The area health authorities no longer exist and these figures cannot be checked. It is possible that the ratios have been affected by errors in the coding of grades or occupations. This could account for the low ratios of health visitors, district nurses or midwives in some areas.