Nurses: Schools
Health

Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that school nurses transferring to health visiting are replaced.

Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Conservative)

It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities (SHAs), in conjunction with their associated deaneries, higher education institutes, primary care trusts and national health service trusts to commission the appropriate level of healthcare work force training posts to meet the needs of the local population including taking into account staff moving between work force groups.

It is entirely appropriate that individual healthcare providers plan and develop their work force. However, a measure of co-operation and joint planning for the development of the work force is required in healthcare and this is currently supported by the SHAs. The SHAs are best placed to commission the education and training programmes, on behalf of providers, to benefit from economies of scale and contract management expertise.

SHAs will remain responsible for commissioning pre-registration courses until April 2013 and will be responsible for the safe transfer of training contracts to new local education and training boards from this date.