Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard 2022 data analysis report for NHS trusts, published 22 February 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that reports findings on racial disparities in the numbers of people entering the formal disciplinary process.
Answered by Will Quince
The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards report for 2022 showed that ethnic minority staff were 1.14 times more likely to enter the formal disciplinary process compared to white staff. This has significantly improved from 2016 when the likelihood ratio was 1.56.
Although this is moving in the right direction, we cannot be complacent and taking action to continue to reduce this gap will remain a priority through local action plans on the Workforce Race Equality Standard and through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion improvement plan for the NHS which requires NHS organisations to review disciplinary and employee relations processes and to ensure that all staff who enter into formal processes are treated with compassion, equity and fairness, irrespective of any protected characteristics.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the British Medical Association's 2022 report entitled Building the future - Brick by brick: The case for urgent investment in safe, modern, and sustainable healthcare estates.
Answered by Will Quince
At the Spending Review 2021, we backed the National Health Service with record levels of funding, allocating £24 billion between 2022/23 to 2024/25 to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings. This will ensure staff have the necessary facilities to provide world-class care.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of NHS staff providing rheumatology care in (a) North West London and (b) England.
Answered by Will Quince
We continue to grow the National Health Service workforce and as of March 2023 there are over 12,900 more nurses and over 5,400 more doctors compared with 12 months earlier. We are on target to meet the 50,000 nurses’ commitment, with over 44,000 more nurses in March 2023 than there were in September 2019.
We are working with NHS England to develop workforce plans for our integrated care systems that link to national initiatives, including recruitment programmes for general practitioners, healthcare support workers, nurses and allied health professionals. We have also commissioned NHS England to produce a long term workforce plan, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 increase the proportion of ethnic minority nurses at band 8a or above.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Health Service is one of the most diverse organisations in this country and we hugely value the contribution that all staff make to delivering care and supporting patients.
On 8 June 2023, NHS England published an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) improvement plan for the NHS workforce. There has been progress in improving diversity of senior management teams; the total number of ethnic minority staff at very senior manager level has increased by 69.7% since 2018 from 201 to 341.
The EDI plan requires NHS organisations and integrated care boards to create talent management plans to improve diversity of boards and senior roles and to implement plans to widen recruitment opportunities within local communities. This includes a focus on career pathways into the NHS such as apprenticeship programmes and graduate management training schemes.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of (a) paediatric rheumatology consultants (b) paediatric rheumatology clinical nurse specialists.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of (a) rheumatology consultants (b) rheumatology clinical nurse specialists.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of rheumatology medical school places.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 increase rheumatology services’ access to podiatry services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no specific steps being taken by the Department. Access to services will be determined at local level.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to promote an inclusive culture in (a) the nursing workforce and (b) among senior nurses.
Answered by Will Quince
To help to build an inclusive culture across the National Health Service, NHS England published an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion improvement plan on 8 June 2023. The improvement plan sets out targeted actions to address prejudice and discrimination – direct and indirect – that exists through behaviour, policies, practices and cultures against certain groups and individuals. It has been co-produced through engagement with staff networks and senior leaders.
This builds on earlier work by the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwifery Officer to support ethnic minority nurses and midwives. In September 2021, NHS England launched the Getting to Equity Programme for aspiring nurse and midwife ethnic minority leaders. In November 2022, NHS England published a Combatting Racial Discrimination resource for nursing and midwifery professionals in conjunction with the NHS Confederation and Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 promote career progressions in (a) lecturing, (b) nurse consultancy and (b) other alternative career options for senior nurses.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan for the next 15 years, which will look at the mix and number of staff required and will set out the actions and reforms needed across the National Health Service, including nurses.
The Government continues to support career progression by investing in continued professional development to help clinical staff advance their careers, develop new clinical skills to enhance the care they are able to provide to patients, obtain advanced practice qualifications and move more easily between different roles in different parts of the NHS.
Programmes such as apprenticeships and blended learning offer new routes into healthcare professions, including nursing. Health Education England, now part of NHS England, recently published the Educator Workforce Strategy, setting out actions that will lead to sufficient capacity and quality of educators to allow the growth in healthcare workforce that is needed to deliver care now and in the future.