Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the density of physicians was in (a) 1985-86, (b) 1995-96, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2014-15.

The information is shown in the following table:

All figures as at 30 September in each year, except for Dentistry - see note (3) below.

Numbers of Physicians, Dentists, Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors 1985-2014

Source:

Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

1. Physicians refers to doctors in Hospital and Community Health Services. New headcount methodology from 2010 onwards means this data is not fully comparable with previous years.
2. Dentistry: for (a) 1985-86 and (b) 1995-96 data for dentists on NHS lists at 30 September 1985 and 30 September 1995
3. For 2005-06, data are for dentists on primary care trust lists at 31 March 2006. These dentists may not have carried out NHS work in these years
4. Data for 2014-15 are not directly comparable with these earlier years as data are now collected for dentists who have recorded NHS activity in the relevant financial year. So 2014-15 data are for dentists who recorded NHS activity 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015
5. Nurses, midwives and health visitors: Figures for 1985 may include Bank Nurses as it has not been possible to specifically exclude them
6. In 2011 the bank staff return was ceased, so the 1995 figure has been adjusted to exclude bank staff, to provide increased compatibility with later years
7. The figure for 1985 is not directly comparable with later years as it is based upon pay scale information rather than NHS Occupation Codes which were introduced in 1995
8. Only headcount figures are available for the number of doctors in 1985, therefore figures have been provided in headcount throughout for consistency.