HC Deb 28 January 1994 vol 236 cc461-2W
Dr. Marek

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses were employed in national health service hospitals in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what are the figures for nurses employed in the community alongside family doctors.

Mr. Stewart

The numbers of qualified nursing staff employed in hospitals and directly employed by GP practices are shown in the table. This also gives data for qualified staff working in the community who are employed by health boards and NHS trusts; these include those who work closely with GPs, like health visitors and district nurses, and others who may not, such as clinic or school nurses.

Numbers of qualified nurses, WTE, working in the NHS in Scotland.1
Hospital Staff Community Staff2 Staff employed in GP practices
1989 29,412.0 5,210.7 295.3
1990 29,478.0 5,261.1 583.5
1991 29,731.6 35,525.7 646.8
1992 429,714.6 5,432.8 695.3
1993 429,510.4 45,392.9 735.5

Includes midwives and only staff who are registered or enrolled. Bank nurses, staff in training or staff who are unqualified such as auxiliaries or nursery nurses are not included. Data for hospital and community staff are at 30 September and for GP practice staff at 1 April.

2 Includes both staff who work closely with GPs and those who may not.

3 The increase in community staff between 1990 and 1991 is the result of a reclassification of staff previously classified as hospital staff.

4 Provisional.