§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many(a) first or second in line managers and (b) medical consultants who were employed by regional health authorities at the time she announced her decision to reduce the number of regions from 14 to eight have been moved, or will move later this year, to other posts in the NHS on protected salaries;
(2) for each of the 14 regional health authorities, how many (a) first and second in line managers and (b) medical consultants have (i) been appointed to a post in one of the eight merged regions, (ii) been appointed to a newly created post with a district health authority, (iii) been appointed to a previously established but vacant post with a district health authority, (iv) obtained employment outside the NHS and (v) become or expect in April 1994 to become unemployed.
§ Dr. MawhinneyAll employees of the 12 existing regional health authorities which are affected by mergers on 1 April 1994 will transfer to six new regional health authorities with effect from that date. Employees' employment rights will be protected by the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).
Appointments to posts in the new regional health authorities and in district health authorities, and the terms of those appointments, are matters for the employing authority.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for each of the 14 regional health authorities, how much money has been set aside for(a) redundancy or severance pay and for paying for early retirements and (b) for paying protected salaries in the forthcoming year, to employees who will lose their job as a result of the merger of regional health authorities.
§ Dr. MawhinneyQuestions of redundancy will be determined by the level of staffing identified as being needed to carry out the functions of national health service central management. This will depend upon the analysis of functions carried out in the NHS and the allocation of functions across the new structure. It is not therefore possible at this stage to estimate the cost of implementing the proposals to streamline NHS central management.