To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees in the NHS suffered manual lifting injuries in 1988–89; and how many suffered manual lifting injuries in 1989–90.

This information is not held centrally by the Department.Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1986, all employers, including the national health service, are required to report certain types of industrial injuries to the Health and Safety Executive. Data of a limited and broadly classified nature are maintained by the executive in respect of those manual handling injuries reported to them.