§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance has been issued to health authorities and trusts on providing newly qualified nurses with information about national vacancies;
(2) what guidance has been issued to health authorities and trusts on the provision of careers counselling services for nursing students;
(3) what plans she has to establish schemes to enable newly qualified nurses who are unemployed to consolidate their education.
§ Mr. SackvilleHealth authorities and trusts are aware that the Employment Service has details of national vacancies and that the English National Board runs a Resource and Careers Service Department.
Regional health authorities have chosen to manage the position of newly qualified nurses themselves by adopting a variety of approaches such as expansion of flexible working patterns, job sharing, short-term contracts and clearing house schemes.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the current state of discussions within the Nursing and Midwifery Staffs Negotiating Council regarding outstanding clinical grading appeals.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe management side of the council awaits a response from the staff side to an offer on 31 March about a number of procedural changes aimed at significantly speeding up the appeals process. The management side made the proposals in support of the initiative requiring regional health authorities to draw up plans to clear outstanding appeals by 31 October 1993.