§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of shortages of speech therapists in Essex; and if he will make a statement. [97181]
§ Mr. LammySpeech and language therapists have been recognised at a national level as a key work force priority for work force planning and development. Speech therapists have been targeted, along with other allied health professionals, for recruitment and retention. Work force development confederations have been made aware of the need to commission additional training places for this target group.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to(a) train and (b) recruit more speech therapists. [97183]
§ Mr. LammyWe are committed to increasing the numbers of speech and language therapists employed in the national health service. Between September 1997 and 2001, the number of speech and language therapists employed in the NHS has increased by over 800, or 17 per cent.
"Delivering the NHS Plan", published in April 2002, includes the latest forecasts for growth in the NHS Workforce. By 2008, we expect the NHS to have a net increase over the September 2001 staff census of at least 30,000 therapists and scientists, including speech therapists.
The "NHS Plan" stated that by 2004, there would be an extra 4,450 therapists, including speech therapists and other key health professionals being trained each year over 1999 levels. By 2001–02 the number of students entering training each year to become a speech therapist had increased by 96, or 21 per cent., from 457 to 553. Latest figures suggest a further increase, to 601, in the current financial year.
A range of recruitment, retention and returner initiatives are in place to facilitate the NHS meeting the challenging targets set out in the "NHS Plan" and "Delivering the NHS Plan". The Department is working very closely with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy and has set up a working group to draw up a recruitment and retention strategy.