§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the shortages in the NHS of(a) nurses, (b) GPs, (c) consultants and (d) therapists and other specialist staff. [23253]
§ Mr. HuttonThe NHS Plan acknowledges that a shortage of human resources is the biggest constraint faced by the National Health Service today. Targets for increasing the number of doctors and nurses were set in the NHS Plan and rolled forward in the manifesto before the last election.
451WThe NHS Plan targets are for 7,500 more consultants, 2,000 more general practitioners, 6,500 more therapists and other health professionals and 20,000 more nurses by 2004. In September 2000 there were 1,100 more consultants, 126 more GPs, 1,400 more therapists and other health professionals and 6,300 more nurses than in September 1999, the NHS Plan baseline. Provisional data from the 2001 census indicate that 10,000 more nurses were employed in the NHS in 2001 than in 2000.
The manifesto targets are for 10,000 more doctors and 20,000 more nurses by 2005 over the 2000 baseline.
The September 2001 census, giving the latest position against these targets, will be available in January 2002.