§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many foreign doctors and nurses have 977W been recruited into the NHS in the last year; and how many British doctors and nurses are in training. [18678]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 28 November 2001]: Data collected by the Department do not record how many foreign doctors and nurses were recruited into the national health service last year.
In order to work in the United Kingdom foreign doctors and nurses have to be registered with the appropriate regulatory body, the General Medical Council (GMC) for doctors and the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) for nurses. They do not necessarily work in the NHS.
In the year to 31 March 2001 there were 1,416 admissions to the UKCC register via European Community arrangements. In the same period there were 5,988 foreign entrants from outside the European Community.
GMC data do not distinguish between UK and European Economic Area (EEA) doctors. In 2000 there were 5,649 newly registered doctors from the UK/EEA. 3,054 new doctors with overseas qualifications (outside the EEA) registered with the GMC in 2000.
The Department does not collect data for Britain. In England in 2000–01 there were 49,090 nurses in training. We forecast that in 2001–02 this will rise to around 53,500.
In 2000 there were 34,660 doctors in training in the NHS. The table with data provided by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) for England shows the number of students entering medical school in the UK since 1997–98.
978W
Patients waiting for elective admission, England, position at 30 September 2001 Over 6 month waiters Over 15 month waiters Health authority Total waiting Number Percentage Number Percentage Avon 21,492 6,934 32.3 400 1.9 Barking and Havering 10,804 3,380 31.3 158 1.5 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey 15,076 4,807 31.9 236 1.6 Barnsley 4,243 641 15.1 1 0.0 Bedfordshire 10,304 3,221 31.3 295 2.9 Berkshire 14,495 3,864 26.7 126 0.9 Birmingham 15,197 2,752 18.1 55 0.4 Bradford 10,001 2,205 22.0 3 0.0 Brent and Harrow 8,224 2,439 29.6 141 1.7 Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich 13,817 4,558 33.0 217 1.6 Buckinghamshire 13,221 3,743 28.3 209 1.6 Bury and Rochdale 9,523 2,261 23.7 72 0.8 Calderdale and Kirklees 10,564 1,617 15.3 20 0.2 Cambridgeshire 14,616 3,689 25.2 160 1.1 Camden and Islington 6,083 1,317 21.7 31 0.5 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 12,004 3,814 31.8 93 0.8 County Durham and Darlington 11,508 2,631 22.9 0 0.0 Coventry 4,807 1,000 20.8 15 0.3 Croydon 6,561 2,089 31.8 200 3.0 Doncaster 4,111 561 13.6 1 0.0 Dorset 8,736 64 0.7 1 0.0 Dudley 4,792 836 17.4 20 0.4 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow 13,734 3,453 25.1 135 1.0 East Kent 16,414 5,462 33.3 239 1.5 East Lancashire 12,441 3,125 25.1 26 0.2 East London and City 11,388 2,818 24.7 90 0.8 East Riding and Hull 11,637 3,518 30.2 0 0.0
Actual medical school intake 1997–98 to 2001–02 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–021 England 3,749 3,735 3,972 4,300 4,698 Scotland 934 956 925 897 914 Wales 200 200 226 233 288 Northern Ireland 179 178 179 180 188 UK total 5,062 5,069 5,302 5,610 6,088 1 Provisional information awaiting confirmation of July 2002 figures from HEFCE in November 2002