asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many doctors, nurses and midwives are now employed in the Rugby district health authority; and how that compares with each year since 1979.

Such figures as we hold centrally are shown in the table. However, as the important footnotes make clear, these figures are by no means the complete picture and are of limited practical value, particularly on medical staff numbers.

NHS directly employed staff in Rugby District Health Authority in post at 30 September (whole-time equivalents)
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983*
Junior Medical Staff† in the hospital and Community Health Service	29	29	29	23	29
Nursing Staff‡	385	381	≑	416	405
Midwifery Staff‡	34	31	≑	29	31
* Latest date for which information for all three groups is available.
† Consultants and Senior Registrars are excluded from the figures as they are employed at RHA and Teaching District levels, and we have no information on their commitment in industrial districts. Also excludes Hospital Practitioners, part-time medical officers (Clinical Assistants), Occasional Sessional Staff in the Community Health Service and Locums.
‡ Includes agency nursing and midwifery staff.
≑Information held centrally on nursing and midwifery staff in this district is incomplete for September 1981.

In view of the many exclusions, my hon. Friend may wish to seek the latest and more comprehensive figures from the chairman of the Rugby health authority.