Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Royal College of Nursing report entitled Nursing Under Unsustainable Pressure: Staffing for Safe and Effective Care, published on 6 June 2020, that (a) 82 per cent of respondents from nursing and midwifery staff across the UK said there was a shortfall of one or more registered nurses on their last shift and (b) 63 per cent said there was a shortfall of one or more health care support workers; and what steps he plans to take to tackle those shortfalls.

Local National Health Service trusts are responsible for managing staffing levels and for recruiting the appropriate number of health professionals required to meet local service need. We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses and ensure the NHS is on a trajectory to a sustainable long-term supply. In March 2022, there were more than 30,000 additional nurses, compared to September 2019. Since 2020, nursing students have been eligible for a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000. Additional funding is also available for childcare costs, accommodation costs and travel costs.