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 efficacy of Return to Practice courses by healthcare providers to address workforce supply needs and alleviate the need for the recruitment of health professional staff from overseas.

Working in concert with National Health Service healthcare providers, Health Education England (HEE) is leading a programme of work to encourage nurses to return to practice. This work includes ensuring that the education programmes being commissioned are effective and meet the needs of patients and the NHS. All programmes are validated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In addition, HEE has developed a checklist of the elements required for an effective programme. Local Education Training Boards are working with Universities to review their programmes against this checklist.