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 the number of mental health practitioners working in the NHS.

To help address the chronic workforce shortages in the mental health workforce we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We are currently working with colleagues at NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment.

NHS England is also working to improve the retention of mental health workers through clearer career progression pathways.