HC Deb 24 October 2002 vol 391 cc497-9W
Gregory Barker

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cancer consultants there are

Hospital Medical Consultants in the Cancer Specialties by Strategic Health Authority each Year1
numbers (headcount)
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 March 20021
England 3,160 3,270 3,360 3,530 3,720 3,860
Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire 130 140 130 150 170 190
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire 90 100 90 90 90 100
Birmingham & The Black Country 150 150 160 160 180 180
Cheshire & Merseyside 170 180 190 200 200 210
Country Durham & Tees Valley 60 70 70 70 70 70
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire 90 90 100 90 100 100
Cumbria & Lancashire 100 110 110 110 110 100
Dorset & Somerset 70 70 70 80 80 80
Essex 70 70 70 70 80 80
Greater Manchester 210 200 210 210 220 230
Hampshire & Isle of Wight 110 120 120 130 150 160
Kent & Medway 80 80 80 90 90 90
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 80 80 90 90 100 100
Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire 160 170 180 190 190 200
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 80 90 100 90 110 110
North Central London 150 160 170 150 170 180
North East London 70 70 80 80 110 120
North West London 210 200 190 230 230 240
Northumberland, Tyne & Wear 120 130 120 130 150 150
Shropshire & Staffordshire 70 70 70 80 80 80
South East London 130 140 140 140 170 170
South West London 70 90 100 100 110 110
South West Peninsula 90 80 80 100 100 110
South Yorkshire 90 90 100 110 110 110
Surrey & Sussex 150 150 140 150 150 160
Thames Valley 150 150 160 170 170 190
Trent 150 160 160 170 150 150
West Yorkshire 170 170 180 170 180 190
Special Hospitals *
National Blood authority 20 40 40 40 40

Notes:

1Data for 1997 to 2001 is at 30 September, 2002 data is at 31 March.

"*" denotes five or less than five

"—" denotes zero

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10

Source:

Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

(a) with the NHS and (b) broken down by health authority; and what the figures were for each year since 1997; [75780]

(2) how many (a) lung, (b) breast, (c) prostate, (d) ovarian and (e) leukaemia cancer specialists there are within the NHS; and what the figures were for each year since 1997. [75786]

Mr. Hutton

Information on the number of lung, breast, prostate, ovarian and leukaemia cancer specialists within the National Health Service is not collected centrally.

The Department collects data on the number of consultants within medical oncology, clinical oncology, histopathology, clinical radiology, haematology and palliative medicine. Collectively, these are referred to as the cancer specialties.

Data relating to the total number of cancer specialist consultants in England and by Strategic Health Authority are shown in the following table.

The number of cancer specialists employed in the NHS is growing. As at March 2002, there were 3,860 cancer specialists (rounded to the nearest 10). This represents an increase of 22 per cent. since September 1997.