§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on patient care of the shortage of trained permanent staff to operate essential life-saving equipment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIt is for individual health authorities to assess the level of and requirement for specific groups of staff and what kind of skill mix is required to deliver individual services.
There are some shortages of staff in high technology areas, as in others. Health authorities have an increasingly flexible range of pay and conditions of service systems to help deal with these, in addition to local measures to improve recruitment, retention and return which we have urged them to introduce.