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NHS Staffing

I accept that the report from which I was quoting was produced by a Committee with a dominance of Labour Back Benchers, and was chaired by a Labour Member. I am simply quoting a report that has come from the Minister's own party's Back Benches. The Audit Commission is reviewing the SHA's work force planning but that is to be kept a secret. There is fury in the press about that. Reference has been made to NHS managers. It is not that we do not need managers; one of my hon. Friends made the very good point that the NHS is enormous and needs management. However, there has been a 73 per cent. increase in the number of managers since 1996 and only a 31 per cent. increase in clinical staff.