HC Deb 07 July 1986 vol 101 cc72-3W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the number of health authorities which employ staff through employment agencies; how many staff are employed by each authority in this way; and what are the total annual fees paid by each authority to such agencies in each year.

Mr. Hayhoe

I regret that details of the numbers of staff employed through employment agencies are available only in respect of nursing and midwifery staff. The figures are shown in table 1. Table 2 shows the total expenditure on the employment of non-National Health Service staff (mostly agency staff) in the financial years 1983–84 and 1984–85 for each region in England and for the special health authorities of London post-graduate teaching hospitals. It is not possible to distinguish between salary costs and commission fees to employment agencies.

Table 1
Agency nursing and midwifery staff* as at 30 September Whole-time equivalent
Region 1983 1984
Northern Nil
Yorkshire
Trent Nil Nil
East Anglian 40 110
North West Thames 620 850
North East Thames 600 980
South East Thames 480 770
South West Thames 380 480
Wessex 40 60
Oxford 10
South Western 10
West Midlands 10 100
Mersey 20 60
North Western Nil Nil
SHAs 250 310
England Total 2,440 3,750
Notes:
* Figures are whole time equivalent rounded to nearest ten (10) because of rounding the sum of the component parts may not agree with the England total.
† Less than five (5).

1983–84 1984–85
Region Nursing staff All other staff Total Nursing staff All other staff Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Trent 11 917 928 10 1,457 1,467
East Anglian 722 859 1,581 1,055 993 2,048
North West Thames 7,345 5,045 12,390 9,377 6,151 15,528
North East Thames 7,453 5,605 13,058 10,601 7,599 18,200
South East Thames 6,480 3,165 9,645 7,918 4,095 12,013
South West Thames 4,470 3,244 7,714 5,224 4,487 9,711
Wessex 462 931 1,393 678 1,332 2,010
Oxford 160 944 1,104 293 1,302 1,595
South Western 158 1,010 1,168 256 1,481 1,737
West Midlands 218 1,816 2,034 797 2,201 2,998
Mersey 126 302 428 448 383 831
North Western 19 1,464 1,483 22 1,686 1,708
Total (Regions) 27,722 27,087 54,809 36,976 35,369 72,345
Special Health Authorities for London Postgraduate hospitals 2,892 2,121 5,013 3,181 3,003 6,184
TOTAL 30,614 29,208 59,822 40,157 38,372 78,529

Note: The figures are derived from the annual accounts of regional and district health authorities together with those of the special health authorities for the London Postgraduate Teaching Hospitals.