§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many currently unfilled posts there are in an intensive care units and special care baby units; and what proportion of intensive care units and special care baby units are not fully staffed.
§ Mr. John PattenThe Department does not collect this information centrally. However a survey of "Special and intensive care baby units and nurse staffing in the UK" conducted by Dr. C. H. M. Walker in 1980–81 on behalf of the British Paediatric Association/British Association of Paediatric Surgeons joint standing committee, and published in "Archives of Disease in Childhood, May 1983", showed that, of 75 special care baby units surveyed, 36 per cent. had their full nursing establishments and 40 per cent. had less than their full establishments; of 65 combined special and intensive care units 32 per cent. had their full establishments and 51 per cent. had less. Twenty four per cent. of special care and 11 per cent. of combined special and intensive care units did not provide this information. The numbers of unfilled posts were not reported.