Nurses (Hansard, 24 May 2002)

§ Mr. Lyons
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are employed in the NHS; and how many there were in 1997. [57617]

§ Mr. Hutton
Workforce information is collected annually as at 30 September. In 1997 there were 318,860 nurses employed in the National Health Service. In 2001 there were 350,380, an increase of 31,520 (9.9 per cent).

§ Mr. Lyons
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are training; and how many were training in 1997. [57620]

§ Mr. Hutton
Latest figures show over 60,800 nursing and midwifery students being trained compared to nearly 36,377 in 1996–97, a 67 per cent increase.

§ Mr. Simmonds
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken to expedite the registration of recently trained nurses. [57947]

§ Mr. Hutton
The registration of nurses, midwives and health visitors is a matter for the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The new council, which was established on 1 April 2002, is concerned to ensure that registration is completed quickly and is looking at ways in which the current registration processes can be made more efficient.