Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS sexual health consultants were there in England in (a) 2017 and (b) 2023.

The Department does not hold information about the total number of staff delivering sexual health services in the National Health Service. However, the table below shows the number of full-time equivalent consultants working in sexual health specialties in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England, as of October 2017 and October 2023:

Source: Data is drawn from the monthly NHS workforce statistics published by NHS England.

Notes: Data excludes staff directly employed by general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers. This is relevant as local authorities are responsible for commissioning most sexual health services and some will be commissioned from bodies outside of NHS trusts, of which the Department holds no staffing information.