Written question asked by Rosie Cooper (Labour) on Thursday, 9 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 March 2006. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 March 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Midwives

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant midwife posts there are in (a) the Cheshire and Lancashire and Cumbria strategic health authority area and (b) the West Lancashire primary care trust area; and what steps her Department is taking to recruit more midwives into the NHS in (i) Cheshire, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Lancashire.

Answer

The information requested is shown in the table.

NHS health and social care information centre vacancies survey March 2005, national health service three-month vacancies for Cheshire and Merseyside and Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority areas and by organisations for qualified midwives Three-month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post
	Midwives
	March 2005			September 2004
	Three-month vacancy rate (percentage)	Three-month vacancy (number)	Staff in post (full-time equivalent)	Staff in post (headcount)
Cheshire and Merseyside SHA area total	0.2	2	1,029	1,304
Five Borough Partnership NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Bebington and West Wirral PCT	—	0	0	0
Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT	—	0	0	0
Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Central Cheshire PCT	—	0	0	0
Central Liverpool PCT	—	0	0	0
Cheshire and Merseyside SHA	—	0	0	0
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Cheshire West PCT	—	0	0	0
Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust	0.9	1	106	138
East Cheshire NHS Trust	0.0	0	70	98
Eastern Cheshire PCT	—	0	0	0
Ellesmere Port and Neston PCT	—	0	0	0
Halton PCT	0.0	0	28	34
Knowsley PCT	—	0	0	0
Liverpool Womens Hospital NHS Trust	0.0	0	277	351
Mersey Care NHS Trust	—	0	3	8
Mersey Regional Ambulance Service NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust	1.0	1	97	123
North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust	0.0	0	100	126
North Liverpool PCT	—	0	0	0
Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals University NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
South Liverpool PCT	—	0	0	0
South Sefton PCT	—	0	0	0
Southport and Formby PCT	—	0	0	0
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust	0.0	0	93	116
St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust	0.2	0	108	133
St. Helens PCT	—	0	0	0
Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Warrington PCT	—	0	0	0
Wirral Hospital NHS Trust	0.0	0	148	177
Cumbria and Lancashire SHA area Total	0.3	3	927	1,147
Blackburn with Darwen PCT	—	0	0	0
Blackpool PCT	—	0	0	0
Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust	1.9	2	103	126
Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT	—	0	1	2
Calderstones NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Carlisle and District PCT	—	0	0	0
Chorley and South Ribble PCT	—	0	0	0
Cumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Cumbria and Lancashire SHA	—	0	1	1
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust	0.0	0	245	303
Eden Valley PCT	—	0	0	0
Fylde PCT	—	0	0	0
Hyndburn and Ribble Valley PCT	—	0	0	0
Lancashire Ambulance Service NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Lancashire Care NHS Trust	—	0	0	0
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	0.7	1	143	177
Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust	0.0	0	306	356
Morecambe Bay PCT	—	0	0	0
North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	0.0	0	127	182
North Cumbria Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Trust		—	0	0	0
Preston PCT	—	0	0	0
West Cumbria PCT	—	0	0	0
West Lancashire PCT	—	0	0	0
Wyre PCT	—	0	0	0
Notes: Three-month vacancy 1. Three-month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2005. 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 non-medical work force census September 2004. 5. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. Staff in post Staff in post data is from the non-medical work force census September 2004. General 1. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number. 2. Calculating the vacancy rates using the aforementioned data may not equal the actual vacancy rates. 3. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts. 4. SHA figures are based on trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of health care. Sources: NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre Vacancies Survey March 2005. NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004.
⁽³⁰⁾ Zero.
⁽³¹⁾ Figures where sum of staff in post (as at 30 September 2004) and vacancies (as at 31 March 2005) is less than 10.

The NHS Improvement Plan, published in June 2004, reiterated the Government's commitment to increase numbers of frontline NHS staff. This built on the NHS Plan which made a commitment to increasing nursing staff numbers—over 20,000 more nurses working in the NHS and 5,500 extra nurses, midwives and health visitors being trained each year by 2004. These targets have already been met and exceeded. The extra investment announced in the 2002 Budget, builds on the NHS Plan target; by 2008 we expect the NHS to have net increases of at least 35,000 nurses, midwives and health visitors.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 444 c270-2W;444 c270-2W; 58453
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Midwives North West
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk

Midwives

Secondary information

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