§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many combinations of grade and area of work there were in the National Health Service in 1960, 1970, and at the latest date available; and how these combinations are distributed between dental and medical staff, nursing and midwifery staff, professional and technical staff, administrative and clerical staff, ambulance staff, ancillary staff, and any other staff.
§ Mr. John PattenThe following table shows the approximate number of combinations of grade and area of work for each staff group returned at 30 September 1982, the latest date for which figures are available:
Number Medical and dental 400 Nursing and midwifery 1,020 Professional and technical 560 Administrative and clerical 1,690 Ambulance staff (including officers) 100 Ancillary 510 Other (Works/maintenance) 340 Total 4.600 These figures differ in some respects from those given in my right hon. and learned Friend's reply on 30 July 1982. — [Vol. 28, c. 850–51.] In producing the later figures we have been able to eliminate theoretical combinations of grade and area of work which have been found, from a closer examination of all the returns, not to exist in practice. This accounts in particular for the much reduced figure for nurses and midwives. At the same time, the September 1982 returns contain a significant number of combinations which became obsolete in April 1982, when area health authorities were abolished as part of NHS restructuring, but which could not be used in the new coding by the time the September returns were sent in. This factor has affected in particular the figures for administrative and clerical staff.
Figures for 1960 are not available for the reasons given in the reply of my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Sir G. Finsberg) on 19 May 1982—[Vol 24, c. 126]—those reasons apply equally to figures for 1970.