Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support the recruitment by the NHS of doctors from the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and we are working across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high quality services on which patients rely following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

This includes working with the Home Office to secure a future migration system which ensures that we can meet future and growing demand, not just for doctors but for all those who work across the health and care system.

The latest figures from NHS Digital show that there were over 3,200 more EU nationals working in the NHS in September 2017 than before the referendum result.

The Government has also confirmed the biggest ever expansion in the number of doctors training places of 1,500 by September 2019 to make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to provide a first class service for patients.