To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescribing advisers were employed in the NHS in England in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available, broken down by primary care trust. (182892)

The information requested is not available. The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) maintains a database of prescribing advisers who have chosen to register with that organisation. We understand that there were 1,514 prescribing advisors registered on the NPC database as of January 2008. Comparable information is not held for earlier years and information is not available on whether these prescribing advisers are employed on a full or part-time basis.