§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what use his Department has made of executive search agencies in filling vacancies within his Department and executive agencies administered by his Department during the last year; and how much these services have cost his Department.
§ Mr. Freeman[holding answer 20 December 1994]: During the past year, my Department and its executive agencies have used executive search consultants on six occasions. The cost of this work has been some £190,000. Executive search consultants are used to identify and recruit staff to fill key posts in the Department which are
1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 Number of Nurses (WTE)1 29,416 29,478 29,732 29,715 29,536 In-patient Discharges (000) 896 912 920 942 952 Total Number of Patients all Types2 (000) 7,669 7,786 7,891 8,059 8,210 Average Daily Number of Patients (weighted)3 48,632 47,554 46,010 44,819 42,869 Nurse Patient Ratio4 0.60 0.62 0.65 0.66 0.69 Notes: 1 The number of nurses are derived from the annual census at 30 September. 2 Includes in-patient discharges, out-patient and day patient attendances, and day cases. 3 The average number of patients is derived by weighting the patient counts for the year by average relative costs as derived from the Scottish health service costs publications. The downward trend is mainly a reflection of reduced lengths of stay of in-patients. The intensity of nursing care will, however be increased on average over these shorter stays. 4 The ratio of nurses to the average daily number of patients.