Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are adequate staffing levels in mental health and community care.

The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development.

HEE sets out its commissioning intentions based upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who come together as members of HEE’s Local Education Training Boards (LETBs).

HEE’s national workforce plan for England is an aggregate of local LETB’s plans, but the advice and input of clinical advisors and patient representatives, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders, is also listened to and considered. It is this discussion and involvement locally and nationally that makes this a plan for the whole of the National Health Service in England.