§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish a breakdown of members of ethnic minorities employed in the NHS as(a) ancillaries, (b) nurses and (c) doctors for each of the past five years and the grades held by these staff; [37034]
(2) if he will publish a breakdown of members of ethnic minorities employed in health authorities as (a) executive members, (b) non-executive members, (c) senior officers, (d) managerial staff and (e) clerical/administrative staff; [37026]
(3) if he will publish a breakdown of members of ethnic minorities employed in NHS trusts as (a) executive members, (b) non-executive members, (c) senior officers, (d) managerial staff and (e) clerical/administrative staff. [37027]
§ Mr. Malone[holding answer 12 July 1996]: Information about nursing and midwifery staff by grade at September 1993 was published in the Department of Health statistical bulletin "NHS Hospital and Community Health Services Non-Medical Staff in England" in November 1994, copies of which are available in the Library. Information about the ethnic origin of all non-medical staff as at September 1994 will be published shortly and placed in the Library.
Information about medical staff for 1992/3/4 is published in the Department of Health statistical bulletins "Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Service Medical and Dental Staff in England" and is held in the Library. Data for 1995 will be placed in the Library shortly.
These are the latest figures available; figures for earlier years are not available.
Information about executive members and senior officers is not available centrally.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 12 July, Official Report, column 334, for information about non-executive members.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many(a) ethnic minority and (b) white nurses there were in the NHS in each of the last five years (i) by grade, (ii) by region and (iii) nationally; [37142]
(2) how many (a) ethnic minority and (b) white nurses there were at grade G in each of the last five years. [37141]
§ Mr. Horam[holding answer 12 July 1996]: Information relating to the ethnicity of national health service nursing and midwifery staff in England in 1993 by grade was published in the Department of Health statistical bulletin 1994/11, copies of which are available 125W in the Library. This is the latest information available. Information relating to earlier years is not available centrally.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure equal access to the delivery of services within the NHS for ethnic minority groups. [37033]
§ Mr. Malone[holding answer 12 July 1996]: a number of measures are in place to ensure equal access to those from the ethnic minority communities: i) the patients charter, which aims to provide better information and health services to everyone (including ethnic minority groups) by meeting their religious and cultural needs. The patients charter has been produced in several ethnic languages; ii) in the last five years, the Department has made around £6.5 million available in direct grants to demonstration projects and ethnic minority voluntary groups to improve ethnic health—for example, it has funded a number of linkworker and advocacy schemes which improve access to services to ethnic minority groups. Copies of relevant reports published recently—"Consumer Empowerment" and "A Case For the Provision Of Bilingual Services Within The NHS"—have 126W been placed in the Library; iii) the NHS ethnic health unit has been established to work with health authorities, national health service trusts and general practitioners to experiment with new ways of improving services in partnership with local ethnic minority people.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current percentage of(a) midwives and (b) health visitors who are from ethnic minorities. [37100]
§ Mr. Horam[holding answer 12 July 1996]: Information relating to the ethnic origin of midwives and health visitors is not available centrally.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure on the ethnic minority health unit in his Department in each of the last five years; and what is the budget for the next three years. [37094]
§ Mr. Malone[holding answer 12 July 1996]: The national health service ethnic health unit was established for three years by Ministers in 1993, to work with NHS organisations to improve services for black and minority ethnic people by harnessing current Government health policies. This followed the report of a task force on how good practice might be spread throughout the NHS. The unit began a focused programme of work in March 1994 which is due to conclude, as intended, in March 1997. The unit's annual budget is of the order of £1.3 million