§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to recruit more neurologists and neurology specialist nurses; and if he will make a statement. [104580]
§ Mr. DenhamAt local level, it is for National Health Service trusts and health authorities, who are accountable for the quality of the services they provide, to determine how their services are configured and delivered, in the450W light of local circumstances, in order to provide quality services to patients. This includes deciding on the number and grades of posts in neurology in their locality.
Extra money has been made available to enable the NHS to take on up to 7,000 doctors and 15,000 more nurses by March 2002. The precise increases between specialties in the Hospital and Community Health Services and the General Medical Services will depend on the recruitment choices of NHS trusts and health authorities locally.
From the Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce on 30 September 1998, there were around 300 consultants in neurology. Currently, there are sufficient higher specialist trainees in the speciality for there to be around 100 extra qualifying for consultant posts by 2006.