HC Deb 28 March 1991 vol 188 cc547-8W
Mr. Thurnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average(a) length of service and (b) age of speech therapists employed by the health service; and what is the percentage of female speech therapists.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The precise information requested is not available centrally. The table shows the largest number of speech therapists employed by the health service in England were in the 25 to 29 age band at 30 September 1989. A total of 98 per cent. of speech therapists in England at 30 September 1989 were female.

Qualified speech therapists in post by age at 30 September 1989
Whole-time equivalents1 (England)
Age band Speech therapists
18–20 2
21–24 463
25–29 811
30–34 502
35–39 294
40–44 267
45–49 202
50–54 154
55–59 95
60–64 18
Unknown 4
Total 2,811

Source: Department of Health (SM13) Annual Census of NHS Non-Medical Manpower.

1 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest whole-time equivalent.

Mr. Thurnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of speech therapists employed by the health service left their employment in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The only centrally available figures are for the year ended 31 March 1989 when there were 480 leavers in England. Of these 301 left the national health service; the remainder moved to other health authorities.