Written question asked by Bill Wiggin (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 September 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many new non-clinical jobs have been created within the NHS since 1997; if he will make a statement on the role of NHS staff in non-clinical posts in improving the health of NHS patients. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many new non-clinical jobs have been created within the NHS since 1997; [186870] (2) if he will make a statement on the role of NHS staff in non-clinical posts in improving the health of NHS patients. [186871] Mr. Hutton: Non-clinical staff perform vital functions within the national health service and make an important contribution to the delivery of healthcare and will continue to do so as the clinical NHS workforce increases. Many of them work directly to support clinicians, leaving them free to work with patients. Others working in NHS infrastructure support perform essential and unavoidable tasks, such as cleaning, paying staff, ordering supplies and recruitment. Between 1997 and 2003, the number of clinical staff and staff working in direct support to clinical staff has increased by 195,059 and the number of staff working in infrastructure support has increased by 29,185.

Secondary information