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7 Sept 2004 : Column 1091W—continued

NHS Denturists

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Department has to review the role of denturists within the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [187228]

 
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The practice of denturism is currently illegal in the United Kingdom, but the Department is working with the General Dental Council (GDC) to provide for the registration of appropriately trained clinical dental technicians (CDTs). On 30 July we issued for consultation a draft of an Order which, with other amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 to modernise the regulation of dentistry, would give the GDC the necessary powers. Comments on the draft are requested by 30 October and it will subsequently be laid before Parliament for debate under the affirmative procedure. Subject to approval, we expect the Order to come into force during 2005.

NHS Staff Vacancies

Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff vacancies there were on average in the NHS in Northampton in each year since 1997. [186520]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
Department of Health Vacancies Survey, 1999–2004

	1999		2000		2001
Northamptonshire HA (1999–2001) and Leicestershire,	Three month vacancy rates and numbers
Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA (2002–04)	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number
GP	—	—	—	44	—	89
Consultant and other doctors (excluding doctors in training)	3.30	9	(56)—	(56)—	1.20	3
All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff (excluding HA staff)	2.3	76	1.6	57	2.1	73
All scientific, therapeutic and technical staff (excluding HA staff)	1.0	9	2.8	26	3.4	34
All other staff (excluding HA staff)	1.8	43	0.4	9	0.4	9

	2002		2003		2004
Northamptonshire HA (1999–2001) and Leicestershire,	Three month vacancy rates and numbers
Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA (2002–04)	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number
GP	—	(57)123	—	(58)48	—	—
Consultant and other doctors (excluding doctors in training)	1.80	5	5.40	47	7.70	31
All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff (excluding HA staff)	3.4	116	2.8	281	1.7	192
All scientific, therapeutic and technical staff (excluding HA staff)	3.5	36	3.4	112	2.4	87
All other staff (excluding HA staff)	0.2	4	0.6	47	1.2	97

GP information:
⁽⁵⁶⁾ 2000 data not available.
⁽⁵⁷⁾ In 2002, one HA in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland did not respond to the survey.
⁽⁵⁸⁾ Vacancy numbers for Northamptonshire PCTs.
Note:
No figures for PCTs are available before 2003 as previous years vacancy numbers were collected from health authorities. Vacancy numbers for each year refer to the number of vacancies occurring in the 12 month period between 1 April and 31 March.

Northampton General Hospital

Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) support staff were employed by Northampton General Hospital, in each of the last 10 years. [186590]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
Hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS): medical and dental staff, and non-medical within Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust Number (headcount)

	As at 30 September each year
	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Medical and dental staff (doctors)	226	241	248	264	283	283	279	293	298	312
Non-medical staff (nurses)	n/a	2,628	2,601	2,581	2,799	2,805	2,869	3,023	3,101	3,366
of which:
Professionally qualified clinical staff	n/a	1,411	1,414	1,427	1,548	1,505	1,529	1,553	1,540	1,611
Qualified nurses	n/a	1,141	1,149	1,156	1,233	1,192	1,192	1,202	1,180	1,237
Qualified scientific and technical staff	n/a	270	265	271	315	313	337	351	360	374
Support to clinical staff	n/a	893	876	766	879	861	901	979	1,068	1,280
Support to doctors and nurses	n/a	738	724	616	719	699	728	779	867	1,051
Support to scientific and technical staff	n/a	155	152	150	160	162	173	200	201	229
NHS infrastructure support	n/a	324	311	388	372	439	439	491	493	475
Central functions	n/a	120	130	125	120	99	107	100	110	140
Hotel property and estate staff	n/a	145	127	204	193	273	265	315	286	261
Managers and senior managers	n/a	59	54	59	59	67	67	76	97	74

Note:
n/a denotes not applicable.
Sources:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
Department of Health non-medical workforce census.





 
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Nurses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many overseas nurses are employed in the University Hospital of Leicester. [186625]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many modern matrons have been appointed in the NHS since the NHS Plan was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [186665]

Mr. Hutton: The latest figures, taken from local development plan returns from trusts, indicate that, as at December 2003, there were 3,200 modern matrons employed in the national health service.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether community matrons will take precedence over senior district nurses in the general recruitment process. [187166]

Mr. Hutton: It is for local national health service trusts to determine their local work force priorities and to recruit staff according to local need and national priorities. The Government has increased the number of nurses working in the NHS by 77,500 since 1997, which includes an increase of 25 per cent. in community service nurses.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on current staffing levels of his aim to recruit 3,000 community matrons. [187167]

Mr. Hutton: It is expected that nurses with the skills and knowledge to take on the role of community matron will be recruited from a range of community, hospital and intermediate care settings, in particular district nursing. The introduction of community matrons will mean staffing working differently and more effectively and may not always require additional nursing staff.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of community matrons on staffing levels of social care professionals. [187339]

Mr. Hutton: In order to deliver benefits for patients, community matrons will need to be able to assess patients medical, psychological and social care needs. This
 
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combination of skills is largely found in experienced nurses, rather than social care professionals. It is expected that social care professionals will form part of the multi-professional team that community matrons will work within.

Out-patient Access Targets

Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of health authorities in Great Yarmouth in meeting out-patient access targets since 1997. [186714]

Dr. Ladyman: Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority's (which covers the health economies of Great Yarmouth) performance on meeting out-patient access targets are shown in the table. The figures for 1997 are not available.
Number of people waiting for out-patient treatment; over 13 and over 17 weeks

March:	Over 13 weeks	Over 17 weeks
1998	17,859	n/a
1999	21,517	n/a
2000	19,183	n/a
2001	15,429	n/a
2002	10,797	n/a
2003	5,366	1,685
2004	2,556	0

Notes:
1. Data prior to September 2001 have been converted to match current strategic health authority boundaries.
2. Target: achieve a maximum wait of four months (17 weeks) for an out-patient appointment and reduce the number of over 13-week out-patient waiters by March 2004, as progress towards achieving a maximum wait of three months for an out-patient appointment by March 2005.
Source:
Care and health information portfolio factsheet.

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