§ Mr. Norman HoggTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the latest figures for the number of agency staff supplied to the National Health Service in the following categories:(a) nurses, (b) midwives, (c) professional and technical staff (excluding works staff), (d) works professional staff, (e) administrative and clerical staff, (f) ambulance officers and control assistants and (g) other staff, indicating their distribution by regional health authority; what payments in fees have been made by each authority to each of these groups over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation about the number of agency staff, other than nursing and midwifery agency staff and medical and dental locums employed, in the National Health Service and health authority expenditure specifically for agency staff is not collected centrally.
The table shows the number of agency nursing and midwifery staff employed by each regional health authority at 30 September 1986 and the expenditure on all non-directly employed National Health Service staff, including agency staff, during, the financial year 1986–87.
Whilst posts in the National Health Service should ideally be filled with directly employed full and part-time staff, suitably qualified staff are not always available in the particular locality. Where recruitment difficulties are encountered or where an urgent short-term need arises the use of appropriately qualified staff from agencies can provide valuable assistance.
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Non-National Health Service staff (including agency) 1986–871 Agency nursing and midwifery staff September 19862 Region Total Nursing Total Nurses Midwives Wessex 4,288 1,409 122 122 — Oxford 4,426 1,364 88 88 — South Western 3,004 553 43 43 — West Midlands 7,212 2,275 170 160 10 Mersey 1,946 761 81 80 2 North Western 1,554 211 20 20 — London Post-Graduate SHAs 10,496 5,837 366 358 8 ENGLAND TOTAL 150,092 70,788 5,450 5,147 303 1 Figures rounded to nearest £000. 2 Figures independently rounded to the nearest whole-time equivalent.