Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of healthcare professionals.

We are growing the workforce, with over 5,800 (4.5%) more doctors and almost 14,900 (4.8%) more nurses in National Health Service trusts and commissioning bodies than last year (April 2022).

We have published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. The Plan includes projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed for the next 15 years, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.

The Government is backing the Plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching a record £6.1 billion over the next two years.

By improving culture, leadership and wellbeing, we will ensure up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years. We will continue to build on what we know works and roll out the interventions that have already proven to be successful. This includes ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to health and wellbeing support, and work in a team that is well-led. These measures will help to retain the workforce, and ensure the NHS People Promise becomes a reality for all staff.