asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many nurses have been relieved of tasks such as cleaning, washing up and general domestic work and clerical tasks which take them from the bedside following the publication of "Priorities in the Health and Social Services—The Way Forward" in September 1977.

Information is not available in the form requested. The general policy of relieving nurses, wherever possible, of non-nursing duties has been pursued in the National Health Service for many years. Particular patterns of service provision, and thus of staffing, may vary from one hospital to another depending on local circumstances.