§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for each regional health authority area how many nursing clinical grading appeals have been heard so far at regional level, breaking down the total according to their outcome.
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§ Mr. DorrellThe information available at 28 February 1991 is given in the table:
Regions Allowed Disallowed Failure to agree Total England Northern 11 7 42 60 Yorkshire 19 16 20 55 Trent 6 1 17 24 East Anglian 7 — 2 9 North West Thames 13 2 47 62 North East Thames 28 3 51 82 South East Thames 14 2 53 69 South West Thames 34 2 23 59 Wessex 27 — 28 55 Oxford 11 12 141 164 South Western 35 14 72 121 West Midlands 11 2 36 49 Mersey 2 — 29 31 North Western 21 1 42 64 Total 239 62 603 904
§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the average cost associated with a single nursing clinical grading appeal hearing at(a) district level, (b) regional level and (c) United Kingdom level.
§ Mr. DorrellThis information is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects nursing clinical grading appeals will be completed; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many nursing clinical grading appeals are currently waiting to be heard at (a) district level, (b) regional level and (c) United Kingdom level; and how many appeals have already been completed at each of those levels.
§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for health when he expects the appeal on grading by nursing auxiliaries at the Alfred Norris unit, Musgrove park hospital, Taunton, to be heard at national level; and to what he attributes the delay in processing this appeal since it was lodged in January 1990.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many clinical grading appeals are outstanding; how many appeals are currently being held on a monthly basis; when he expects the outstanding clinical grading appeals to be completed; how many appointments he has made to the panels dealing with clinical grading appeals; how many panels there are; and what is the remuneration and/or expenses paid to each;
(2) if he will appoint more national appeals panels on clinical grading; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellAppeals against clinical grading decisions are heard under a complicated and time-consuming procedure agreed by the general Whitley council. When the clinical grading structure was negotiated, we offered to discuss a streamlined procedure for clinical grading appeals, but the nursing trades unions chose not to pursue this possibility.
Under the agreed procedure the management and staff sides of the nursing and midwifery staffs negotiating council are both required to appoint members for each appeal hearing at national level. We are making every effort to process appeals as quickly as possible but future progress will depend on a number of factors, particularly 322W the availability of people who are suitably qualified to hear appeals. Both parties to the dispute meet their own expenses: management side members can claim expenses under normal rules.
There is no information held centrally on district level appeals. The information available on appeals at regional and national level at 28 February is as follows:
Numbers of appeals received (England) Number of appeals heard (England) Regional 1,515 904 National 504 27 Information relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The appeals by nursing auxiliaries at the Alfred Norris unit, Musgrove Park hospital, are likely to be heard at the end of April.