§ Mr. Favellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the information available to his Department on the nurse to patient ratio in England; and what information he has as to how this compares with France and Germany.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that comparative data on nurse to patient ratios is not available; but the World Health Organisation does collect information on nurse to population ratios, for which the latest available figures show 498 nurses and midwives per 100,000 population in the United Kingdom compared to 346 in Germany and 304 in France. It should be noted, however, that these figures relate to different years and that there are differences in detail in the way they are compiled.