§ Mr. Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of (a) hospital nurses,(b) midwives, (c) health visitors and (d) district nurses employed by the National Health Service in (i) Britain and (ii) Cheltenham health district in 1978 and 1984; what was the percentage increase in each case; and how this compares with the previous five-year period.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation at this level of detail is not yet available for 1984. The table shows the requested information for Great Britain for 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1983, and for Cheltenham health district for 1983 only:
941W
Cheltenham Health District■ 30 September 1983 Whole-time Equivalents* Numbers Hospital Nurses† 970 Hospital Midwives† 80 Health Visitors‡ 40 District Nurses¶ 60 * Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages calculated on unrounded figures. † Excludes Agency Nurses and Midwives. Includes student nurses and midwives. ‡ Includes all staff working in the Health Visiting Service who have undertaken Health Visitor training. ║ Includes TB Visitors without Health Visitor certificate as these can not be separated out for 1973. ¶ Includes all qualified nursing staff in the District Nursing Service whether or not they have undertaken District training. • Following NHS Re-Organisation on 1 April 1974 staff previously employed by Local Authority Health Departments were transferred to area health authorities. Therefore the wholetime equivalent for 1973 and the percentage changes for 1973 to 1977 are not directly comparable with those for later years. ■ Before the 1982 XHS Re-Organisation Cheltenham was not a separately identified health authority, but was combined with Gloucester therefore comparable figures for earlier years are not available. *Figures are rounded to the nearesi 10. Percentages calculated on unrounded figures.