§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the vacancy rate for nurses in each quarter in(a) each English health authority and (b) each English health trust in each year from 1996 to 2003; and if he will make a statement. [92560]
§ Mr. HuttonAnnual three month vacancy rate information between 1999 and 2002 has been placed in the Library.
477WThe Department of Health's survey of vacancies lasting three months or more has been collected only since March 1999, and is available on an annual basis.
The three month vacancy rate was 3.1 per cent. in March 2002, a fall from 3.4 per cent. in March 2001 and the second successive fall in vacancies for qualified nursing staff.