To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff employed by the NHS are engaged in administrative work; and what was the figure in 1979.

At September 1990, staff employed on the terms and conditions of the administrative and clerical staffs Whitley council made up 15·1 per cent. of the total NHS work force in England compared with 13·3 per cent. at September 1979. More than one quarter of them work in direct support to clinicians. Numbers of such clinically-related staff have nearly trebled since 1979 and this is helping to free clinical staff to concentrate their skills and experience on direct patient care.