To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of the last five years for each NHS region the number of (a) school nurses and (b) health visitors.
[holding answer 7 February 1992]: The information requested is shown in the tables. The fluctuations in numbers reflects the substantial growth in family practitioner services. The number of general practitioners has increased by 20 per cent. since 1979. The wider range of primary care services available to children and their parents has led many health authorities to review the role of their community child health services and redirect resources towards children with special needs.
Region
| 1986
| 1987
| 1988
| 1989
| 1990
|
| Mersey Regional Health Authority | 210 | 210 | 200 | 190 | 190 |
| North Western Regional Health Authority | 300 | 250 | 260 | 230 | 240 |
| ENGLAND TOTAL | 2,730 | 2,720 | 2,650 | 42,590 | 2,660 |
Source: Department of Health (SM 13) annual census of National Health Service non-medical manpower. | |||||
1 Excludes special school and school Health Visitors. | |||||
2 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalent. | |||||
3 School nurses are defined by occupation code. Apparent changes in staffing levels may well be the result of changes in coding accuracy. | |||||
4 Understated figures due to errors in occupation coding at South East Thames region. | |||||