§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the cost of employing locum doctors, agency and bank nurses and agency clerical staff in each regional health authority area.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Skelmersdale)The information available, derived from annual accounts submitted to the department by health authorities for 1986–87 (the latest year available), is shown in the table:
1986–87 Expenditure on Non-National Health Service (Agency. etc.) —Medical, Nursing and Administrative and Clerical Staff £000s Administrative and Clerical Staff Regions Medical Staff Nursing Staff Typing and Secretarial Staff Other Administrative and Clerical Staff Northern 279 45 68 29 Yorkshire 1,475 1,239 258 412 Trent 1,053 157 486 507 East Anglian 807 2,025 488 466 North-West Thames 4,268 15,508 3,489 1,918 North-East Thames 5,157 19,299 3,291 2,670 South-East Thames 3,216 11,728 1,930 1,853 South-West Thames 2,525 8,377 1,985 4,578 Wessex 1,257 1,409 623 466 Oxford 1,311 1,364 258 405 South-Western 763 553 550 241 West Midlands 2,167 1,175 860 858 Mersey 614 761 80 63 North-Western 751 211 216 168 Regions Total 25,643 64,951 14,582 14,634 Special Health Auths.* 421 5,837 1,594 368 Total 26,064 70,788 16,176 15,002 *Special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals. Source:
1986–87 annual accounts of regional and district health authorities in England and those of the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals.
Notes to the table:
1. The annual accounts of health authorities do not separately identify the costs of directly employed National Health Service staff engaged on a temporary or ad hoc basis. Thus, the table excludes the costs of directly employed medical staff engaged on locum duties and nurses directly employed through nurse "bank" arrangements, etc.
2. The table relates to Hospital and Community Health Services (including ambulance, blood transfusion, mass radiography and other services). Comparatively minor costs on the employment of agency administrative and clerical staff incurred directly by family practitioner committees and any costs arising from the employment of locum and agency staff by general practitioners and others contracted to provide family practitioner services are excluded.