§ Tim Loughton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are for hearing aid technicians in the NHS in England; and how many there were in 2003–04, broken down by region. [178425]
§ Mr. Hutton:Specific information is not collected on the number of vacancies for hearing aid technicians; they are included in the physiological measurement staff group. The table shows the number of vacancies lasting three months or more for physiological measurement staff by Government office region as at March 2003.
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Department of health vacancies survey, March 2003; qualified physiological measurement staff by Government office region: three month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post Qualified physiological measurement Three month vacancy rate percentage March 2003 Three month vacancy number Staff in post ( whole- time equivalent) September 2002 Staff in post (headcount) — England 19 66 3,526 4,018 A North East 1.6 3 218 236 B North West 14 9 707 806 D Yorkshire and the Humber 2.3 9 385 444 E East Midlands 0.3 1 283 319 F West Midlands 0.3 1 397 445 G East Of England 2.2 5 257 289 H London 4.7 21 481 548 J South East 3.1 10 349 415 K South West 1.3 6 449 516 Notes: 1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2003. 2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which Trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole-time equivalents). 3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post. 4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey, March 2003. 5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. 6. Staff in post data is from the Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002 Sources: Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2003. Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002.