§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service, 337W for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAll civil service departments and agencies have access to the services of the civil service occupational health service, which employs some 100 fully qualified occupational health professionals—doctors, nurses and hygiene and safety advisers. It operates via a network of regional offices throughout the United Kingdom.
In addition, employees of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Overseas Development Administration (and some British Council employees overseas) benefit from a contractual arrangement with St. Thomas's hospital, which provides advice on occupational health matters as well as a wider health care service.
The St. Thomas's implant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consists of three full-time medical advisers, two part-time medical advisers, three full-time occupational nursing sisters, two part-time occupational nursing sisters and one health promotion adviser. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office employs a full-time staff counsellor.
The total number of staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office including the Overseas Development Administration at the beginning of November 1990 was 8,044.