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 that (a) the Programme Team of New Hospital Programme has adequate levels of staff and (b) staffing vacancies do not delay the implementation of that programme.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) is a major Government programme and recognises the need to recruit, develop, and retain people with the specialist skills necessary to deliver the programme’s objectives. We recognise that having the right level of staff is integral to delivering the programme.

The NHP remains committed to increasing its in-house resource and the programme continues to recruit into priority posts, ensuring delivery remains on track. The programme has appointed the Health Delivery Partnership, which has strengthened the capacity of the programme, giving flexibility to move teams around where expertise is required.