To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nutritionists (a) have been employed by the NHS in each year since 1997 and (b) were employed by each NHS organisation in the most recent year for which figures are available. (283934)

Nutritionists are not separately identified within the NHS workforce census and therefore this information is not collected centrally.

Workforce planning, including training, in the national health service is managed and led at a local level by the strategic health authorities (SHAs) taking into account the national policy direction.

Local NHS organisations are best placed to determine the levels of service and resource required to meet the health needs of the local population.