§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by region the number of qualified paramedics per head of population. [8077]
§ Mr. MaloneThe information requested is in the table. These figures are based on the number of ambulance paramedics recorded by the Department of Health's September 1995 non-medical work force census—the first year in which ambulance paramedics were separately identified in the census.
The regional figures shown in the table should be interpreted with caution because the population figures take no account of the relative needs of the people within each region and in some cases the population served by organisations within a particular region can be greater than the population of the region itself.
NHS Hospital and Community Health Service ambulance paramedics per 10,000 head of population by NHS executive regional office areas; England 1995 Ambulance paramedics per 10,000 head of population England1 1.23 Northern and Yorkshire 1.17 Trent 0.77 Anglia and Oxford 0.86 North and South Thames1, 2 1.27 South and West 1.65 West Midlands 1.13 North West 1.48 1Based on revised figures. The Department of Health's statistical bulletin: NHS hospital and community health services non-medical staff in England 1985–1995, reported that there were 6,760 ambulance paramedics in England at September 1995. However, subsequent investigation shows that figures for the London Ambulance Service included staff with partial paramedic training. With these staff excluded, there were 6,000 paramedics at September 1995. 2Figures for North and South Thames NHS executive regional office areas have been combined to allow the inclusion of figures for the London Ambulance Service.