Operating Theatre Staff

HC Deb 13 January 1992 vol 201 cc523-4W

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the ratio of trained theatre staff to patients.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The information requested is not available centrally in the format requested.

The number of trained theatre staff for whom information is held is shown in the table. The provisional number of in-patient and day cases treated in hospitals in 1990–91 (finished consultant episodes) for all acute specialities was 7,014,000.

Trained Theatre Staff working wholly or partly in Theatres Hospital Medical and Dental staff at 30 September 1990 (England)
Specialty	Number	WTE
General Surgery	3,786	3,522.8
Cardio-thoracic Surgery	368	352.5
Otolaryngology	1,135	943.4
Neurosurgery	258	246.2
Opthalmology	1,551	1,155.7
Paediatric Surgery	135	127.6
Plastic Surgery	285	258.8
Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery	2,444	2,199.2
Urology	537	500.3
Cardiology	560	437.3
Paediatrics	2,603	2,316.2
Obstetrics and Gynaecology	3,409	2,814.9
Anaesthetics	5,047	4,497.4
Radiology	1,663	1,552.0
Radiotherapy	522	451.2
Histopathology	952	839.5
Oral Surgery	1,111	719.9
Total of above specialties	26,366	22,934.9

Hospital Non-Medical staff at 30 September 1990 (1)
	Number	WTE (2)
Qualified Nurses	12,410	10,880
Grand Total	38,776	33,814.9

Note: (1) Technical staff (including Operating Assistants (ODAs) and Perfusionists) play an important role in operating theatres but are not identified separately on statistical returns.

(2) All figures are independently rounded to the nearest 10.

Source: Department of Health (SM 13) Annual Censuses of NHS medical and non-medical manpower.