Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Thursday, 6 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 November 2003. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 November 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many learning disability specialist nurses are employed in each primary care trust; what the ratio is of specialist learning disability nurses to (a) population and (b) patients receiving such specialist care in each primary care trust area. - Number of qualified learning disabilities nurses placed in Library (Dep 03/2460). (Holding answer 11 November 2003).

Answer: Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many learning disability specialist nurses are employed in each primary care trust; [138041] (2) what the ratio is of specialist learning disability nurses to (a) population and (b) patients receiving such specialist care in each primary care trust area. [138042] Mr. Hutton :[holding answer 11 November 2003]: Information is not collected centrally on the number of patients receiving specialist learning disabilities care. Employment arrangements of learning disabilities nurses vary from place to place; they are employed by organisations other than primary care trusts (PCTs), which often cover several PCT areas. It is therefore not possible to show the ratio of qualified learning disability nurses to PCT populations. Information on the number of qualified learning disabilities nurses by strategic health authority and per 100,000 population has been placed in the Library.

Secondary information