§ Lord Molloyasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the report by Sir Bernard Tomlinson on London's health service:
- (i) what are the current funded establishment figures provided by district health authorities for
WA 68 health visitors, school nurses, district nurses, community psychiatric nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in London for the last year for which they are available; - (ii) how these figures compare with those for five years previously; and
- (iii) what steps in respect of increased training provision, redeployment and recruitment will be taken to ensure that the establishment figures are increased to a level capable of delivering the recommendations of the Tomlinson Report on improved primary health care services in London.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The figures requested are not held centrally.
Making London Better, the Government's response to the Tomlinson Report, emphasised the importance of investing in the recruitment, training and professional support of the family doctors, nurses and other professions which provide primary health care services in the capital, and announced that £40 million extra would be available for investment in London's primary health care in 1993–94. Those extra resources have been allocated to schemes proposed by family health services authorities within the London initiative zone, as part of wide-ranging service development plans. These plans, drawn up in collaboration with regional health authorities, purchasers and providers, and other interested parties, contain many proposals aimed at increasing the numbers, and improving the training, of nurses and other healthcare professionals in the primary care field.