They ensure that clinical and nursing staff alike are free to spend as much time as possible on what they are trained to deliver - direct patient care.Ratio of WTE Administrative Staff1 per Average Staffed Bed2 At 30th September At 31 March 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Scotland3 0.42 0.43 0.43 0.45 0.47 0.50 0.54 0.59 0.66 0.72 0.75 Argyll and Clyde 0.39 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.37 0.38 0.40 0.44 0.49 0.53 0.58 Ayrshire and Arran 0.33 0.37 0.37 0.38 0.41 0.41 0.44 0.48 0.53 0.59 0.63 Borders 0.38 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.39 0.47 0.48 0.48 0.56 0.55 0.55 Dumfries and Galloway 0.37 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.40 0.45 0.56 0.62 0.67 0.65 0.71 Fife 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.39 0.41 0.44 0.45 0.51 0.56 0.60 0.60 Forth Valley 0.28 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.33 0.34 0.40 0.44 0.51 0.59 0.60 Grampian 0.36 0.36 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.38 0.41 0.45 0.46 0.49 0.49 Greater Glasgow 0.44 0.46 0.48 0.49 0.51 0.53 0.55 0.62 0.70 0.73 0.76 Highland 0.36 0.39 0.40 0.40 0.43 0.45 0.49 0.51 0.58 0.64 0.67 Lanarkshire 0.31 0.34 0.35 0.37 0.38 0.39 0.41 0.48 0.54 0.57 0.58 Lothian 0.41 0.43 0.44 0.47 0.50 0.52 0.55 0.55 0.56 0.63 0.65 Orkney 0.21 0.23 0.24 0.25 0.30 0.39 0.46 0.59 0.66 0.70 0.72 Shetland 0.41 0.44 0.46 0.56 0.65 0.65 0.66 0.73 0.84 0.85 0.89 Tayside 0.37 0.39 0.38 0.42 0.45 0.47 0.51 0.59 0.61 0.69 0.71 Western Isles 0.29 0.27 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.36 0.38 0.44 0.48 0.49 0.50 Notes:1 At 30 September each year except 2004 which is at 31 March – all staff in Administration and Clerical (A and C) grades.2 Average staffed beds during year 30 Sept 1994-2003 and ending 31 March 2004.3 Includes Special Health Boards.Part of the increase since 1997 can be attributed to a reclassification of some staff on “senior managers” grades to “administrative and clerical” grades.Trends in “senior managers” and “administrative and clerical” grades are show on table G1 on the Scottish Health Statistics web...