To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much the average pay of nurses and doctors in Wales increased between 1974 and 1979 and between 1979 to the latest available date, in cash and in real terms.
| Year | Capital Expenditure (cash) £ million | Increase £ million | Capital Expenditure (real terms)1 £ million | Increase/ decrease £ million |
| 1974–75 | 13·182 | — | 55·348 | — |
| 1979–80 | 21·777 | 8·595 | 43·619 | (11·729) |
| 1982–902 | 70·462 | 48·685 | 70·462 | 27·843 |
Notes:
1 'real' in terms of 1989–90 prices.
2 latest period for which detailed capital expenditure information is available.
My hon. Friend will note the dramatic difference between the cuts in real terms between 1974–1979 in hospital capital expenditure compared with the welcome increases between 1979/1989–90.
Change 1974 to 1979
| Change 1979 to 1990–91
| |||
Number
| Per cent.
| Number
| Per cent.
| |
| In-patients | 20,722 | +6·3 | 132,750 | +38·0 |
| New out-patients | 15,293 | -3·4 | 122,725 | +28·6 |
| Day cases | 13,140 | +72·8 | 72,603 | +232·9 |
The increases in patients treated since 1979 are a tribute to the staff of the NHS and the Government who have provided record increases in resources for the service.
Separate information for Wales is not held centrally.On a Great Britain basis the cumulative average percentage increases in pay rates expressed in cash and real terms for the two periods is as follows:
| Percentage increase in cash pay (a) | Percentage increase in real pay (b) | |
| Nurses, Midwives and Health visitors | ||
| 1974–79 | 64·7 | (-21·1) |
| 1979–91 | 242·5 | 48·7 |
| Hospital Doctors and Dentists | ||
| 1974–79 | 88·3 | (-9·9) |
| 1979–1991 | 196·5 | 28·7 |
| (a) Percentage cash increases reflect full year effect of increases agreed within the pay round year (August-July). | ||
| (b) Percentage real increases reflect percentage cash increases for the pay round year deflated by the increase in the Retail Prices Index throughout the pay round year. | ||