§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the total number of qualified midwives who are currently resident in the United Kingdom; how many of these are employed in the National Health Service; how many are employed in the private sector; and how many are unemployed.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation supplied by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting shows that 164,000 midwives were included on the register of midwives at April 1986. However, this is not a live register and will therefore include some midwives who are not resident in the United Kingdom, have retired, are not in the employment field or obtained the qualification for another purpose. 32,000 midwives notified their intention to practise during the year ending March 1987 but not necessarily in the National Health Service.
There were 18,260 whole-time equivalent (WTE) midwives employed in the NHS in England at September 1985. At December 1985 there were 134 full-time and 58 part-time registered midwives employed in nursing homes in England registered under the Nursing Homes Act.
The Department of Employment is the source of statistical information on the unemployed, but I understand that information by occupation has not been available since the introduction of the voluntary registration procedure in October 1982.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the average length of time spent in their current job by midwives within the National Health Service.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation is not available in the form requested but a study of a sample of hospital-based midwives in England by the Department's central management services in 1982 provided the following information:
Years since qualifying per cent. Under 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 20 and more Proportion of practising midwives by years since qualifying 46 18 13 9 14
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the number of established midwifery posts which are currently unoccupied in each region; and what percentage this represents of the total midwifery establishment in each of those regions.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that detailed information of this nature is not available centrally. However, I am aware of the results of a survey of a sample of health authorities in England, conducted for the Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives and Health Visitors, which showed that at 31 March 1985 only about 3 per cent. of whole-time equivalent funded posts for midwives remained vacant for over three months, compared with the average of 2.5 per cent. for all nursing and midwifery staff.
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§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give a breakdown by region of the numbers of midwives employed by the National Health Service; and if in each case he will give the rate of employment of midwives per 1,000 women in their main childbearing years in each of those regions.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information requested is given in the table.
Midwifery staff per thousand women of main childbearing age By region and England at September 1985 Whole-time equivalents Midwifery staff1 2 Midwifery staff3 per 1,000 women age 16 to 44 Northern 1,500 2.4 Yorkshire 1,800 2.4 Trent 2,200 2.2 East Anglian 1,000 2.4 North West Thames 1,500 2.0 North East Thames 1,900 2.3 South East Thames 1,800 2.4 South West Thames 1,200 2.0 Wessex 1,300 2.3 Oxford 1,200 2.2 South Western 1,300 2.0 West Midlands 2,600 2.4 Mersey 1,200 2.4 North Western 2,400 2.9 England4 23,100 2.3 1 Figures are whole-time equivalent independently rounded to nearest 10. 2 Includes midwifery agency staff. 3 Ratio calculated on unrounded figures. 4 Includes London post-graduate (teaching) hospitals (SHAs).
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the average remuneration of a midwife in (a) the National Health Service and (b) the private sector.
§ Mr. NewtonWith effect from 1 July 1986 the basic salary scales of staff midwives and midwifery sisters employed in the National Health Service are as follows:
£ Staff midwife 6,475 to 7,750 Midwifery sister 8,070 to 10,800 In addition, midwives in these grades are eligible for premium payments mainly for night and weekend work and overtime. Average earnings of such staff are estimated to be about 15 per cent. greater than basic pay.
Comparable information for the private sector is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the cost of regarding all midwives as midwifery sisters; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonThe precise cost of regarding all staff midwives as midwifery sisters would depend on detailed arrangements for such an upgrading but is probably of the order of £ 10 million to £20 million per annum at July 1986 pay and national insurance levels in Great Britain.