Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of vacancies in the NHS by 2030 based upon workforce assumptions in the NHS Long Term Plan.

The Department does not hold the data requested.

The Government will support the National Health Service to ensure that the right staff, with the right skills and experience, are available to deliver the high-quality care the public expects. This includes building on the work already underway to recruit, train and retain more staff to address shortages. This will involve more training places with increased flexibility, including for those high priority areas such as mental health and primary care, as well as new or expanded roles with greater opportunities for career progression for existing staff.

To ensure a detailed plan that everyone in the NHS can get behind, the Secretary of State has commissioned Baroness Harding to lead a rapid and inclusive programme of work to set out a detailed workforce implementation plan to be published in the spring.