§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by health district(a) the current nursing staff establishment, (b) the number in post at the latest available date and (c) the number who had left the National Health Service in the preceding year.
§ Mr. Michael Forsyth[holding answer 3 November 1989]: The current nursing staff establishment of health boards is not held centrally. The total number of nursing staff in post, including qualified and unqualified staff and those in training, is shown in table 1. Information about the number of nursing staff leaving the NHS is available only for qualified staff and relates to the year ending 30 September 1988. This information is shown in table 2. The total includes some nurses who left to join health authorities in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Table 1 Total nursing staff, 31 March 1989 (provisional) Health Board Total Argyll and Clyde 5,668 Ayrshire and Arran 4,034 Borders 1,378 Dumfries and Galloway 2,305 Fife 4,021 Forth Valley 4,112 Grampian 7,345 Greater Glasgow 17,917 Highland 2,794 Lanarkshire 6,318 Lothian 10,871 Orkney 233 Shetland 263 Tayside 6,911 Western Isles 382 CSA 277 Scotland 74,829
Table 2 Qualified nurses leaving National Health Service in Scotland, year ending 30 September 1988 Health Board Leavers Argyll and Clyde 254 Ayrshire and Arran 238 Borders 89 Dumfries and Galloway 124 Fife 221 Forth Valley 198 Grampian 445 Greater Glasgow 806 Highland 166 Lanarkshire 313 Lothian 777 Orkney 11 Shetland 24 Tayside 351 Western Isles 28 CSA 2 Scotland 4,047