§ Mr. MuddTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the ratio of administrators to beds in(a) the National Health Service, (b) the South-West regional health authority and (c) the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly health authority on 1 January 1965, 1 January 1975, and 1 January 1985; and what is the projection for 1 January 1988.
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 14 December 19871]: Full information is not available in the form requested. For 1965, there are no comparable data with the later years. Projections for 1988 are not available centrally.
The work of administrative and clerical staff spans the whole range of health authority activity, not just hospital in-patient services, and a substantial number are engaged in direct clinical support roles. Crude ratios of administrative staff to available hospital beds, therefore, are misleading and do not provide helpful comparisons. The available information as requested, however, is shown in the table.
NHS Administrative and Clerical staff in post at 30 September per average daily available bed in NHS hospitals over calendar year 1975 1985 England 0.24 0.34 South Western Regional Health Authority 0.21 0.30 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly District Health Authority n/a 0.22
Number of cases on in-patient waiting list with ranking of District Health Authorities/Special Health Authorities by percentage change September 1982 to March 1987 Change September 1982 to March 1987 District Health Authority/Special Health Authority September 1982 March 1987 Number Percentage Milton Keynes1 6 2,614 2,608 43,466.7 Halton 7 141 134 1,914.3 Islington 1,098 2,826 1,728 157.4 Huntingdon 471 922 451 95.8