§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of vacancies have remained unfilled for three months or more for(a) speech and language therapists, (b) all therapists and (c) the NHS overall in (i) Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre, (ii) the North West and (iii) England and Wales. [131736]
§ Mr. DenhamThe available information is contained in the table.
Department of Health Recruitment, Retention and Vacancies Survey—vacancies in NHS Trusts by region and health authority, therapists and all NHS staff three month vacancy rates1 Percentages England North West North West Lancashire HA2 Speech and language therapists staff 1.2 1.2 0.0 All therapists staff3 2.5 2.5 1.3 All NHS staff 1.7 1.1 0.5 1 Posts that had been vacant for three months or more at 31 March 1999 2 North West Lancashire Health Authority include the following NHS Trusts; Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde and Preston 3 All therapists staff include; physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists Notes
1. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place
2. All NHS staff include non-medical and medical and dental staff
Source
Department of Health Recruitment, Retention and Vacancies Survey 1999
§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the change in referral rates to physiotherapists over the last five years for which figures are available. [131740]
989W
§ Mr. DenhamInformation about referral rates to physiotherapists is not collected centrally. Information about patient contacts with the physiotherapy service is available and show that in 1998–99 there were 4.2 million initial contacts, a measure of the number of new episodes of care commenced in the year, about one per cent. more than 1997–98.
§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of student speech and language therapists who graduated in the last year for which figures are available did not go on to work as speech and language therapists. [131734]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information requested is not held centrally.