§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many nurses entered and left the nursing profession in (a) England and Wales, (b) the West Midlands regional health authority and (c) Walsall in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. NewtonThe figures for Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
I regret that information of this nature for England is not collected centrally. However, we are aware of work undertaken by the Institute of Manpower Studies which suggests that about 10 per cent. of qualified nurses and midwives leave the National Health Service each year. This figure includes retirements and those leaving for non-National Health Service nursing employment. They are not therefore all lost to the profession. On that basis, an estimated 23,500 in whole-time equivalent terms left the National Health Service in England in 1985–86.
After allowing for wastage and failure to practise on qualification, around 22,500 learners completed training and entered the National Health Service in the year to 31 March 1986. It is estimated that about 7,000 qualified staff in whole-time equivalent terms returned to the National Health Service in that year. This estimated excess of joiners over leavers compares closely with the actual increase in the number of qualified staff from 1984 to 1985 of 6,400 whole-time equivalents.
No information is available on the number of qualified nurses and midwives entering and leaving the nursing profession in West Midlands regional health authority and Walsall and it would not necessarily be correct to estimate the numbers on the same basis as for England as a whole.