AM Welcomes Figures

“MORE FRONTLINE NHS STAFF THAN EVER,” SAYS CARL SARGEANT AM
Carl Sargeant, AM for Alyn and Deeside, is welcoming new figures published today which show that there are more frontline staff working for the NHS in Wales than in previous years. The 2008 NHS Staff Census, which was taken at 30th September last year, shows that 71,467 whole-time equivalent staff were directly employed by the NHS in Wales, an increase of nearly 1% from 2007. 12 years ago this figure was just over 53,500.The figures show that:• There were 5,571 medical and dental staff, an increase of 1 per cent over the previous year and an increase of 51 per cent over the past decade • There were 1,893 hospital medical consultants, an increase of 4% over the previous year and an increase of 70 per cent over the past decade • There were 21,426 qualified nursing staff which is an 29 per cent increase over the last decade • The number of managerial posts decreased by 2 per cent to 2,745 over the year; and, • Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff increased by 188 to 10,842 over the year. Other figures also released today show that there has been a 43% decrease in the number of posts vacant for 3 months or longer. In particular, there has been a significant decrease in the number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visitor roles vacant for 3 months or longer. In September 2008 there were 35 vacant posts compared to 102 vacant posts 6 months previously.Mr Sargeant said: “The Assembly Government is committed to improving our National Health Service for both staff and patients. We have invested heavily in the NHS infrastructure and have taken steps to improve working conditions for staff.“There are now more doctors and nurses working in the NHS than ever before. Just last month we announced an increase in the number of healthcare training courses to be funded in the next academic year to help meet reduce NHS waiting times and improve access to healthcare, so we are continuing to build on successes and invest in more staff.”