Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help non-medical NHS staff to access career progression opportunities.

The Government has committed to improve career development for non-medical National Health Service staff in several ways. There are a wide range of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships at all levels within the NHS, to enable staff to progress their careers within their chosen profession. In addition, new steps we have committed to take include improving support for newly qualified healthcare registrants, working with the NHS Staff Council to ensure job profiles are consistently applied, and amending terms and conditions to ensure NHS staff who undertake apprenticeships as part of their agreed career development can maintain their basic pay.