Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of plans of health providers to recruit nurses and midwives from overseas in the 2014-15 academic year; and how many such nurses and midwives he anticipates will be recruited.

The international recruitment of nurses and midwives is a matter for local employers. They have indicated a higher need for nurses now than they had previously planned, with a particular peak in demand over the next couple of years. Some local trusts are recruiting internationally in an attempt to fill this short term demand.

It is not for the Government but for local hospitals to decide how many staff they employ and they are best placed to do this based on the needs of their patients and local communities.

On 24 June, NHS England published nurse, midwife and care staffing levels on a patient safety website, NHS Choices. Publishing staffing data at a national level was a key commitment following the Mid Staffordshire public inquiry and is a major step forward in the Government's drive to make the National Health Service the safest health care in the world.