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Mr. Stephen
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will detail the numbers of national health service front-line staff for the national health service in Scotland in 1979, 1983, 1987 and the latest available year; and if he will list the percentage change in these figures between each of those years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth
[holding answer 12 March 1992]: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Direct care staff in the NHS in Scotland: Whole-time equivalent (WTE) as at 30 September | |||
| Total1 | Percentage change | ||
| Year | WTE | Period | Percentage change |
| 1979 | 72,320·3 | — | — |
| 1983 | 79,928·4 | 1979–83 | 25·1 |
| 1987 | 81,588·7 | 1983–87 | 2·1 |
| 1 1991 | 82,550·8 | 1987–91 | 1·2 |
| Notes: | |||
| 1 Direct care staff include doctors and dentists, nursing and midwifery staff, scientific and PAMs staff, technical staff, hospital pharmacists and opticians, ambulance staff. The figures include some staff who are not involved in direct patient care—for example, those in teaching, administration or public health medicine. Staff in the state hospital are excluded. | |||
| 2 Numbers have been adjusted to reflect the change for nursing staff from a 40-hour week in 1979 to a 37–5-hour week in subsequent years. | |||
| 3 Provisional | |||