§ Baroness Haymanasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many individuals they expect to qualify as nurses in 1997 and 1998.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)Early estimates indicate that approximately 14,200 individuals (all first entrants) are expected to qualify as nurses in the United Kingdom in 1997–98 and 15,000 in 1998–99.
§ Baroness Haymanasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they collate on vacancies in registered nursing posts.
§ Baroness CumberlegeFigures on vacancies for registered nursing posts in England, Wales and Scotland are collected by the Office of Manpower and Economics and published in the annual reports of the Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine, copies of which are available in the Library. Figures on vacancies for registered nursing posts in Northern Ireland are not collected centrally by the Health and Personal Social Services Executive of Northern Ireland.
§ Baroness Haymanasked Her Majesty's Government:
For each of the last five years, how many pre-registration nursing and midwifery students began training as initial entrants by means of (a) salaried 39WA student places, (b) Project 2000 and (c) undergraduate study; and
For each of the last five years, how many pre-registration nursing and midwifery students who began training as initial entrants by means of (a) salaried student places, (b) Project 2000 and (c) undergraduate study respectively:
- (i) qualified, and
- (ii) registered with the United Kingdom Central Council of Nurses.
§ Baroness CumberlegeThis information is not held centrally. I refer the noble Baroness to the National Boards for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for information relating to student numbers and the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for information concerning the numbers registering.
§ Baroness Haymanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list the nursing specialties which they recognise as being in acute short supply nationally.
§ Baroness CumberlegeThe national Pay Review Body has considered all the evidence and concluded that there is no widespread shortage of nursing staff. This position also applies to Northern Ireland.