§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many different categories of National Health Service staff are employed in the maintenance of patient-connected equipment; how many people are employed in each category; and what the change has been in the distribution and usage of these various categories since the Department of Health and Social Security issued its guidance on the management of medical equipment, HEI98, in January 1982.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 25 January 1989]: There are usually three categories of staff: physicists, technicians and, in some cases, works staff. We do not collect information centrally on the numbers of staff in these categories who are engaged in this type of maintenance work. We have no indication of any changes in usage patterns since the publication of HEI98.