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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS nurses qualified in each year since 2002; and how many nurses specialising in paediatrics there were in each year since 2002; [198184] (2) how many (a) consultants and (b) paediatric consultants there were in the NHS in each year since 2002. [198185] Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of consultants, paediatric consultants, nurses and paediatric nurse employed in the national health service since 2002 is shown in the table. Information is not collected centrally on the number of nurses qualifying each year. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) holds information on the number of nurses and midwives initially entering the register, a pre-requisite for employment in the NHS and other sectors in the UK. This information can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org. Hospital, public health medicine and community health services: medical and dental consultants, consultants within paediatric specialties, all qualified nurses (including practice nurses) and qualified nurses employed in paediatrics _________________________________________________________________________________________________. England: numbers (headcount) 20021 20031 Latest data2 All consultants 27,070 28,750 30,171 of which: Paediatric dentistry 22 30 33 Paediatric surgery 105 100 106 Paediatric group 1,695 1,807 1,893 of which: Paediatric cardiology 1,631 1,738 1,827 Paediatrics 64 69 66 All qualified nurses, midwives 367,520 386,359 396,359 and health visitors Of which: Nurses working in paediatrics 18,014 18,437 n/a _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Data as at 30 September 2 Data for consultants as at June 2004 and March 2004 for nurses. Note: n/a not available Source: Department of Health medical and dental workforce census Between September 2002 and September 2003, the number of consultants increased by 1,680, or 6.2 per cent., and the number of paediatric consultants, comprising paediatric dentistry, paediatric surgery, paediatric cardiology and paediatrics, increased by 115, or 6.3 per cent. Between September 2002 and June 2004, the number of consultants increased by 3,101, or 11.5 per cent., and the number of paediatric consultants, comprising paediatric dentistry, paediatric surgery, paediatric cardiology and paediatrics, increased by 210, or 11.5 per cent. Between September 2002 and March 2004, the number of nurses employed in the NHS has increased by 28,839, or 7.8 per cent., and between September 2002 and September 2003, the number of nurses employed in the paediatrics area of work has increased by 423, or 2.3 per cent.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

426 c1386W;426 c1390W; 198184;198185

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Consultants NHS Nurses Staff Paediatrics

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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