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 obtain additional resources to urgently tackle workforce shortages within the NHS.

In February 2022, we published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’. The plan sets out how the Department will support the National Health Service to increase capacity and reduce disruption to patient care by supporting the workforce. The Department is committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament to ensure a sustainable long-term supply for the NHS. In December 2021, the number of nurses had increased by over 27,000 compared to September 2019.

We have introduced a non-repayable training grant offering at least £5,000 per academic year for three years for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions. Over 30,000 students have accepted a place nursing and midwifery programmes in the 2021 recruitment cycle - an increase of 28% compared to 2019. We have also increased the number of medical school places by 25%. The NHS Retention Programme is also targeting interventions to encourage staff to stay in the NHS whilst support their health and wellbeing.