---

General Social Care Council

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require the General Social Care Council to develop an interim register that covers all unqualified social care workers employed by local authorities and in the independent sector. [185]

Jacqui Smith: The General Social Care Council (GSCC) will register social care workers who hold the appropriate level of qualification for the job that they do, and who satisfy the requirements as to conduct and competence. Registration will begin with social workers, most of whom are qualified. Other early groups for registration will be residential child care workers and managers of care homes. The GSCC will set out the timescales for registering the remainder of the workforce.

The GSCC will publish codes of practice for social care workers and other employers. All social care workers will be expected to abide by these codes, whether or not they are registered with the GSCC.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the General Social Care Council will play in regulating health support workers. [186]

Jacqui Smith: The General Social Care Council (GSCC) will be responsible for regulating social care workers. There are no plans for it to regulate health support workers. The social care workforce in England comprises over a million workers, and the GSCC will concentrate on introducing regulation in this new area.

NHS Staff Numbers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultants and (b) general practitioners were working for the NHS in July 2000. [390]

Mr. Hutton: The Department collects information about the number of consultants and general practitioners working for the National Health Service as at 30 September each year. Information is not available for July 2000.

As at 30 September 2000 (headcount) there were 24,300 consultants and 28,590 general practitioners working for the NHS.

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were working for the NHS in (a) July 2000 and (b) June 2001. [391]

Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health workforce censuses collect the number of nurses working in the National Health Service in England as at 30 September each year.

On 30 September 1999 there were 329,640 (headcount) nurses employed in the NHS. On 30 September 2000 there were 335,950.

Hospital Food

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will specify the remuneration of each culinary adviser involved in the improvement of hospital food. [435]

Mr. Hutton: National Health Service dietitians, catering managers, nurses and patients, along with Mr. Loyd Grossman and his team of seven leading chefs, all contributed towards the development of the better

25 Jun 2001 : Column: 25W

hospital food initiative, including the development of a new NHS recipe book and menu. Launched on 8 May, it includes new dishes which have been specially designed for modern tastes.

Loyd Grossman and the chefs provided their services free of charge.

Waiting Lists (Suspensions)

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients are suspended from waiting lists; and how many were suspended from waiting lists on 1 March. [428]

Mr. Hutton: Statistics for suspended patients are published by the Department of Health every quarter. At the end of March 2001 (the most recent data available) 76,734 patients have been suspended from the inpatient waiting list during the last quarter of 2000-01.

The National Health Service data manual gives clear guidance that patients should only be suspended from the waiting list if they are medically unfit for the operation, or for other impelling reasons i.e. where a patient is unavailable for admission because of family commitments, holidays or other reasons.

Departmental Responsibilities

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the areas of responsibility that have been transferred (a) from his Department to other Departments and (b) to his Department from other Departments since 8 June. [433]

Ms Blears: No areas of responsibility have been transferred either to or from my Department since 8 June.

Overseas Nurses

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from which countries overseas nurses are employed by the NHS; and how many nurses are employed from each country. [431]

Mr. Hutton: This information is not held centrally. Information on applications from nurses outside the United Kingdom for registration to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) can be found in the UKCC annual statistical analysis of the UKCC professional register. Information on the number of work permits issued to employers is available from work permits UK.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from foreign Governments in connection with the employment of overseas nurses since May 2000. [423]

Mr. Hutton: Over the last year we have received representations from the Spanish Government about recruiting doctors and nurses from Spain to work in the National Health Service.

An Inter-Governmental agreement was achieved with Spain in November 2000 to promote closer working between the two countries. As part of this agreement, the first 63 nurses arrived in the north-west of England from Spain on 19 January 2001 to work in four NHS trusts and have now been joined by another 57. Following this

25 Jun 2001 : Column: 26W

successful recruitment, the initiative is being extended to medical staff through a pilot project also being led by north-west region.

I am also aware that the Department has received representations over the last year from:

Latvia

Philippines

Russia

China

Tunisia

Caribbean

South Africa

Zimbabwe.

Guidance was issued by the Department on international recruitment which emphasises that all NHS employers must ensure that they do not actively recruit from developing countries who are experiencing nursing shortages of their own.

NHS Vacancies

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultant posts and (b) nursing posts are currently vacant; and how many posts in each category have been vacant for more than three months. [426]

Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health vacancy survey for 2000 collected only the number of vacancies which have lasted for three months or more as at 30 March. These figures are given in the table.

Results from 2001 vacancy survey are not yet available.

Department of Health Vacancies Survey three month vacancy figures⁽⁵⁾ for Consultants and Nursing staff as at 31 March 2000⁽⁶⁾

	Number
All consultants	600
General medicine group of specialities	90
Paediatrics	40
Accident and emergency	30
Surgical group of specialities	60
Obstetrics and gynaecology	10
Anaesthetics	30
Radiology group of specialities	70
Clinical oncology	10
Pathology group of specialities	50
Psychiatry group of specialities	190
Dental (hospital or public health)	20
All qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff	10,110
Acute, elderly and general care	6,390
Paediatrics	620
Learning difficulties	310
Psychiatry	1,440
Midwives	510
District nurses	150
Health visitors	190
Other qualified nurses	490

⁽⁵⁾ Posts that had been vacant for three months or more as at 31 March 2000.

⁽⁶⁾ Figures are different from those previously published due to the discovery of figures for four trusts, which had not given detailed breakdown of vacancies within staff groups, being excluded altogether from the results.

Notes:

1. Figures are whole time equivalents rounded to the nearest 10.

2. Three month vacancies are classified as vacant for three months or more, but have actively been tried to be filled.

3. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Source:

Department of Health Vacancies Survey.

25 Jun 2001 : Column: 27W

Private Treatment (NHS Patients)

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were treated by the private sector during the last quarter (a) in total and (b) broken down by specialty. [424]

Mr. Hutton: At present this information is not centrally recorded. We are currently exploring as part of the Concordat with the private sector what additional data collection may be necessary and desirable.

Prescription Payments (Exemptions)

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the medical conditions which warrant exemption from prescription payments. [430]

Ms Blears: The medical conditions conferring exemption from prescription charges are:

(1) permanent fistula (including caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy, or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or an appliance;

(2) the following disorders:

forms of hypoadrenalism (including Addison's disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential

diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism

diabetes mellitus--except where treatment is by diet alone

hypoparathyroidism

myasthenia gravis

myxoedema

(3) epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy;

(4) a continuing physical disability which prevents the patient from leaving his residence without the help of another person.

---