Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many band 5 nurse role were advertised for internal applicants in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many band 5 nurse roles were advertised for external applicants in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) divers and (b) other emergency patients in the North East have access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy within clinically recommended times after October 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to ensuring equitably accessible, high-quality services, for anyone who requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). This will be achieved through the commissioning of six geographically dispersed services across England. Three preferred providers have been identified to date, and a further procurement exercise will take place to identify the three remaining centres.
The contract for HBOT services, also known as recompression, was reviewed in 2024, as existing contract terms expired. This included an update of the service specification using the published full methods process, and a public consultation on the proposal to reduce the number of commissioned providers in England from eight to six centres. Further information on the service specification, the published full methods process, and the consultation is available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-service-specifications/
The updates to the specification seek to ensure timely access to treatment for the most acutely unwell patients with the specification requiring:
The geographical scope of the six services will ensure that there are no more than four hours travelling time by road from coastal locations, from the furthest borders, or between neighbouring commissioned HBOT centres, which is in line with good practice guidelines. The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment sets out an evaluation, including access to services and where appropriate action was taken to ensure fair access to any patient who requires this service. Further information on the Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2.1-Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-equality-and-health-inequalities-impact-assessment.pdf
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely access to emergency hyperbaric oxygen therapy for patients in the North East.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to ensuring equitably accessible, high-quality services, for anyone who requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). This will be achieved through the commissioning of six geographically dispersed services across England. Three preferred providers have been identified to date, and a further procurement exercise will take place to identify the three remaining centres.
The contract for HBOT services, also known as recompression, was reviewed in 2024, as existing contract terms expired. This included an update of the service specification using the published full methods process, and a public consultation on the proposal to reduce the number of commissioned providers in England from eight to six centres. Further information on the service specification, the published full methods process, and the consultation is available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-service-specifications/
The updates to the specification seek to ensure timely access to treatment for the most acutely unwell patients with the specification requiring:
The geographical scope of the six services will ensure that there are no more than four hours travelling time by road from coastal locations, from the furthest borders, or between neighbouring commissioned HBOT centres, which is in line with good practice guidelines. The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment sets out an evaluation, including access to services and where appropriate action was taken to ensure fair access to any patient who requires this service. Further information on the Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2.1-Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-equality-and-health-inequalities-impact-assessment.pdf
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing hyperbaric oxygen therapy services from the North East on (a) Levels of patient safety and (b) treatment outcomes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has not decided to remove hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services in the North East.
Due to current contract terms expiring, NHS England conducted a re-procurement of the service in line with Provider Selection Regime regulations. NHS England was only able to award contracts that met the quality requirements of the tender. The Intention to Award Notice, issued on 14 May 2025, confirmed that NHS England was only able to award three of the six available lots. For those lots where no preferred provider was identified, including the North-East, a further procurement exercise will take place. Interim contract arrangements will be put in place in these areas to ensure continued service provision in line with the commissioning intentions of equitably accessible, high-quality care for any patient who requires HBOT. The intention to award notice is available at the following link:
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021325-2025?origin=SearchResults&p=1
The geographical scope of the six services will ensure that there are no more than four hours travelling time by road from coastal locations, from the furthest borders, or between neighbouring commissioned HBOT centres, which is in line with the optimal time to treatment set out in good practice guidelines. Further information on the configuration of service modelling can be found in the published public consultation documents, available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/reviewing-hyperbaric-oxygen-services-consultation-guide/
The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment, which sets out the evaluation of the impact of the changes on access to services, is available at the following link:
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England took to consult with(a) diving organisations, (b) local health trusts and (c) emergency services in the North East it decided to decommission hyperbaric chamber services in the north of England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has not decided to decommission hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services in the North of England.
NHS England undertook stakeholder testing and a public consultation on the revised service specification for HBOT services. The main impact of the proposals was the reconfiguration of the number of commissioned HBOT centres in England, from eight centres to six.
The review was led by the chair of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Clinical Reference Group and the lead commissioner for the service, and was supported by a Specification Working Group (SWG). Membership of the SWG included a patient representative, clinical leads from current commissioned providers, consultants in public health, and members of the British Hyperbaric Association. Specialist advice was sought on relevant inter-dependent services including adult critical care, HM Coastguard, adult critical care transfer services, and children’s services.
Stakeholder testing on the revised service specification took place from 8 June 2024 to 25 June 2024. 14 responses were received, six of which were on behalf of organisations and eight from individuals. Public consultation was carried out from 13 September to 12 October 2024. A total of 923 individuals responded to the public consultation, from across all regions and devolved nations of the United Kingdom.
NHS England actively encourages individuals and organisations to register as stakeholders to ensure a full range of views are included in any service developments. Stakeholders can register their interest in services commissioned by NHS England on their website, which includes a special interest group for HBOT.
Any individuals or organisations who sign up are kept informed when NHS England engages on potential changes to the way that these services are commissioned. NHS England also encourages stakeholders to cascade invitations to provide feedback across their networks.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses qualified to work in the NHS (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes information on the number of nurses joining their register for the first time, who are resident in England. It is important to note that newly registered nurses may choose to work in a range of settings, including National Health Service trusts, private or third sector bodies, who may undertake NHS work, or social care settings.
The following table shows the number of nurses joining the NMC register in England for the first time by financial year:
Financial year | Number of registered nurses joining the NMC register for the first time in England |
2022/23 | 24,108 |
2023/24 | 28,049 |
2024/25 | 29,210 |
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council, March 2025 Annual Data Report, available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
The information may slightly undercount first time register joiners in England as it is based on the address registered with the NMC.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy for newly qualified nurses to be guaranteed a job in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified nurses are a matter for individual National Health service trusts, which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to ensure support is in place to help graduating nurses transition into the workforce.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many newly qualified nurses were employed in the NHS as a band 5 nurse after six months of being a qualified in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2022 .
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many newly qualified nurses were employed in the NHS as a band 5 nurse after three months of being a qualified in (a) 2024, (b) 2023 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.