HC Deb 09 July 1991 vol 194 c329W
Mr. Andrew Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed by the National Health Service in 1961; and how many are employed today.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The latest—provisional—figures show that 797,300 whole-time equivalent staff were employed by the hospital and community health services in England at 30 September 1990, compared with 629,500 at 30 September 1971, the earliest year for which comparable figures are available.