§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Offical Report the number of nurses in post, the increase in 1982 as a percentage of the total and the percentage of that increase which was absorbed by the reduction in working hours.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe number of qualified nurses and midwives, excluding agency staff and student health visitors, in post at 30 September 1981—the latest date for which detailed information is available — was 212,000 in whole-time equivalent terms. This was an increase of over 7 per cent. over the previous year. It is not possible to say how much of this increase was the result of the reduction in working hours. Over the period September 1979 to September 1981 there was a real increase of some 3.5 per cent. in whole-time equivalent terms of qualified nurses and midwives even after allowing for the change in hours.