There were 3,029 people on long-term sick leave in the 11 departments within the Northern Ireland administration in 2001-02. “Long-term” is defined as being more than 20 working days, and the number is up from 2,690 in 1999-2000. The departments have now set individual targets for reduction in sickness absence.
Focus groups and surveys are being held to identify what additional recreational facilities the Armed Forces should have. Current improvements being made are the introduction of quiet rooms, juice rooms and internet cafés.
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Twenty-six per cent of all doctors, and 14 per cent of all GPs, qualified outside the UK or the European Economic Area.
There are almost two-thirds fewer beds available for mental illness. In 1980, the average daily number of available beds in NHS trusts in England was 87,396. Since then it has fallen every year to 32,783 in 2001-02. The percentage of total hospital and community health service expenditure spent on mental healthcare has barely changed in the same period. It was 11.12 per cent in 1979-80, and 12.71 per cent in 2000-01.
The average number of computers per school used mainly for teaching and learning has increased from 27.1 in 1998 to 50 in 2002.
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There are 367,520 nurses employed in the NHS. The percentage aged 21-30 has fallen from 23.6 in 1993 to 15.5 in 2002.
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Just 6.56 per cent of the Ministry of Defence’s budget will be spent on conflict prevention in 2002-03.
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Of international tourists who visit England and stay at least one night, only 2 per cent stay in the North East.
The House of Commons is in recess. The above was taken from July 11 and 15