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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average vacancy rate is for midwives in the NHS, broken down by region; what proportion of midwife vacancies have remained vacant for more than three months in (a) England and (b) each region in the last year for which figures are available; which 10 regions of England have the highest vacancy rates; and what these rates are; [139021] (2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the vacancy rate for midwives on decisions by midwives to leave the profession. [139240] Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of vacancies for midwives lasting three months or more is collected in the national health service vacancy survey, information on the number of vacancies lasting less than three months is not collected centrally. The available information is shown in the table by Government regional office area and strategic health authority. No assessment has been made on the effect of vacancy rates for midwives on decisions by midwives to leave the profession. The vacancy rate for midwives is comparable with that for the overall nursing work force. Since 1997, the number of midwives employed in the NHS has increased by 860 and the Government will continue to increase the NHS midwifery work force through a range of recruitment and retention initiatives. Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2003--Vacancies in strategic health authority areas and by Government regional office area for qualified midwives--three month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Qualified midwives March 2003 September 2002 Three month vacancy rate Three month vacancy Staff in post Staff in post (percentage) (number) (whole-time equivalent) (headcount) England 3.1 572 18,119 23,249 East of England 4.1 60 1,630 2,159 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and 0.0 -- 672 910 Cambridgeshire strategic HA Q02 Bedfordshire and 9.1 45 472 605 Hertfordshire strategic HA Q03 Essex strategic HA 3.9 16 486 644 London 7.7 214 2,812 3,601 Q04 North West London 4.5 30 633 842 strategic HA Q05 North Central London 10.1 53 498 628 strategic HA Q06 North East London 5.5 31 615 724 strategic HA Q07 South East London 12.2 83 580 769 strategic HA Q08 South West London 4.9 17 487 638 strategic HA North East 0.8 8 993 1,241 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and 0.3 1 537 675 Wear strategic HA Q10 County Durham and Tees 1.4 6 457 566 Valley strategic HA Yorkshire and the Humber 2.2 43 1,909 2,321 Q11 North and East Yorkshire 1.3 7 526 651 and Northern Lincolnshire strategic HA Q12 West Yorkshire strategic 2.9 26 850 1,021 HA Q23 South Yorkshire 1.8 10 533 649 strategic HA North West 1.1 33 3,069 3,833 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire 0.3 2 768 985 strategic HA Q14 Greater Manchester 1.4 19 1,310 1,572 strategic HA Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside 1.2 12 991 1,276 strategic HA South East 4.7 122 2,522 3,414 Q16 Thames Valley strategic 2.0 14 722 1,004 HA Q17 Hampshire and Isle of 3.5 20 536 730 Wight strategic HA Q18 Kent and Medway 5.7 30 509 660 strategic HA Q19 Surrey and Sussex 7.2 59 755 1,020 strategic HA South West 1.6 28 1,785 2,358 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire 2.3 19 827 1,091 and Wiltshire strategic HA Q21 South West Peninsula 1.3 8 612 797 strategic HA Q22 Dorset and Somerset 0.3 1 345 470 strategic HA East Midlands 1.3 17 1,307 1,697 Q24 Trent strategic HA 0.1 1 819 1,053 Q25 Leicestershire, 3.1 16 488 644 Northamptonshire and Rutland strategic HA West Midlands 2.2 47 2,091 2,625 Q26 Shropshire and 1.5 8 508 652 Staffordshire strategic HA Q27 Birmingham and the Black 3.7 39 1,010 1,234 Country strategic HA Q28 Coventry, Warwickshire, 0.0 -- 573 739 Herefordshire and Worcestershire strategic HA _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Three month vacancy notes: 1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2003 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 for non-medical staff are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey, March 2003 5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place 6. `--' zero Staff in post notes: 1. Staff in post data is from the Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002 2. `--' zero General notes: 1. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number 2. Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates 3. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts 4. Strategic HA figures are based on Trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of healthcare Sources: Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2003 Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

413 c602-4W; 139021;139240

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Midwives Vacancies

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk