§ Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of contingency planning to deal with the call up of NHS staff as medical reservists, for how many(a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) other medical staff cover would have to be arranged; and what assessment he has made of how this would affect performance targets for NHS institutions. [83399]
§ Mr. HuttonNo decisions have been made about the call-up of medical reservists and so it is not possible to make any estimates concerning what cover may be needed. The Department would liase with the Ministry of Defence on any requirement to call up medical personnel. Together, we would work closely with the national health service trusts concerned to minimise disruption as far as possible.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls the NHS Overseas Nurses Advice Line has received since it was established; and what the average cost to the NHS is per call. [84895]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 2 December 2002]: To date the National Health Service Overseas Advice Line has received 53 calls which have required advice.
The NHS Overseas Nurses Advice Line is funded by the Department of Health. The average cost per call for this financial year will not be available until March 2003.
§ David HamiltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses left the NHS last year, broken down by nation of the UK. [84545]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation on the number of nurses leaving the national health service each year is not available. The non-medical workforce census collects data on staff in post as at 30 September each year but does not distinguish between leavers and recruits.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes an annual statistical report which includes information about the number of nurses and midwives leaving the register. This data can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org.uk.
§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was(a) budgeted for and (b) spent on NHS nursing and midwifery staff in each year since 1996–97 in (i) England and (ii) each NHS region; [83720]
(2) how much was (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on agency nursing and midwifery staff in the NHS in each year since 1996–97 in (i) England and (ii) each NHS region. [83721]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation about staffing budgets is not held centrally. It is for primary care trusts, in partnership with health authorities and other local stakeholders, to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. 169W Funding for nurses, midwives and health visiting staff will have been made available in health authority unified allocations. Table I sets out these allocations for England and the average annual increase in each year.
Information outlining the expenditure on national health service nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff is shown in table 2.
Information outlining the expenditure on non-NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff is shown in Table 3. The figures in table 2 include all agency staff and any other staff not directly employed by the individual NHS trusts, health authorities and primary care trusts. We are unable to disaggregate agency nursing costs.
Table 2: Expenditure on NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff England, 1996–97 to 2000–01 Region 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Northern and Yorkshire 831,340,241 850,015,207 902,854,418 997,003,489 1,087,774,444 Trent 638,295,285 652,938,065 683,240,140 748,449,639 791,095,390 West Midlands 647,197,186 661,729,190 684,544,989 746,590,274 809,642,109 North West 908,283,904 932,480,126 976,794,428 1,064,401,204 1,148,750,339 Eastern 583,429,006 584,789,352 607,820,759 664,906,741 720,152,396 London 1,109,678,665 1,147,415,728 1,186,661,273 1,287,889,856 1,378,785,300 South East 950,338,890 963,640,965 1,003,409,193 1,095,639,106 1,181,989,752 South West 625,822,737 622,034,275 664,540,071 725,391,300 784,221,142 England Total 6,294,385,914 6,415,042,908 6,709,865,271 7,330,271,609 7,902,410,872 Sources:
1. Annual financial returns for NHS trusts, 1996–97 to 2000–01
2. Annual financial returns for health authorities, 1996–97 to 2000–01
3. Annual financial returns for primary care trusts, 2000–01
Table 3: Expenditure on non-NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff (inc. agency, etc.)—England Region 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Northern and Yorkshire 6,028,667 6,714,833 7,504,774 9,670,403 11,687,978 Trent 5,960,334 7,697,702 10,064,129 12,885,286 16,582,418 West Midlands 16,939,663 20,265,855 26,503,757 32,564,528 37,964,326 North West 9,570,017 13,211,621 17,857,451 23,917,194 31,022,389 Eastern 14,055,474 15,719,904 22,670,380 30,951,975 42,387,041 London 108,202,417 111,628,043 130,573,228 180,665,901 202,308,850 South East 21,586,155 29,963,665 41,469,988 52,808,574 66,046,899 South West 9,153,908 11,136,944 15,581,455 18,192,822 27,431,981 England Total 191,496,635 216,338,567 272,225,162 361,656,683 435,431,882 Sources:
1. Annual financial returns for NHS trusts, 1996–97 to 2000–01
2. Annual financial returns for health authorities, 1996–97 to 2000–01
3. Annual financial returns for primary care trusts, 2000–01