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Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 20 January 2006. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 February 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Genetic Testing

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health which staff groups specialise in genetic testing; how many staff in these groups there were in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest date for which figures are available; and how many full-time equivalent posts those figures represent.
Answer

Information on genetics staff in England for the specified years is shown in the following table.

National health service hospital and community health services: genetics staff in England by level as at 30 September each specified year
1997 2004
Full-time equivalent Headcount Full-time equivalent Headcount
All medical genetics staff 94 121 149 188
Clinical genetics 87 106 142 180
Clinical cytogenetics and molecular genetics 7 15 8 8
All non-medical genetics staff n/a n/a 607 656
Qualified genetics staff n/a n/a 570 610
Unqualified genetics staff n/a n/a 37 46
n/a = not available. Sources: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Information prior to 2004 for non-medical genetics staff is unavailable as this was the first year that detailed information on healthcare scientists was collected.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
44734; 442 c1310W;442 c1310W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Genetics Staff Screening
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk