Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase the number of (a) staff working in mental health services and (b) specialist staff working in eating disorder services.

We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses in the National Health Service by 2024/25, including nurses to deliver vital mental health support.

Eligible pre-registration nursing students studying on courses at English universities from September 2020 will benefit from additional support of at least £5,000 a year, which they will not need to repay.

There will be up to £3,000 additional funding for some students who choose to study in regions or specialisms struggling to recruit, including £1,000 for new students studying mental health nursing.

We are also focused on driving forward work to improve recruitment into psychiatry, including working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists on their ‘Choose Psychiatry’ campaign. To attract more junior doctors into psychiatry, the new junior doctor contract gives psychiatry trainees an additional £21,017 pay premia in addition to their normal pay.