§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses have been(a) disciplined and (b) sacked for (i) drug-taking offences and (ii) stealing NHS medical drugs in each year since 1997. [24300]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 8 January 2002]: Data for the discipline or sacking of nurses involved with drug-taking offences or stealing of national health service medical NHS drugs are not collected centrally but may be held at a local level by employers.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times agency staff were used to fulfil shifts in acute hospitals by(a) authority area and (b) trust presented (i) numerically and (ii) as a proportion of all nurse shifts for each of the last three years for which figures are available. [16396]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is not collected centrally. However, information from the Audit Commissioning report 2001 states that on a typical day about 20,000 bank and agency staff work in national health service trusts, covering 10 per cent. of shifts.