Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to fill staff vacancies in the NHS.

The National Health Service employs more staff now than at any other time in its 70-year history, with an increase of 72,100 full time equivalent staff since May 2010¹. Posts may be vacant for a variety of reasons, including maternity and career breaks. Trusts make decisions based on local needs about how they fill these posts, including looking at short-term options for cover, including bank and agency staff. The latest data from NHS Improvement’s quarterly performance report shows that as at September 2018, around 80% of nursing and 85% of medical vacancies are filled by a combination of bank and agency staff.

The Department has provided a 25% increase in funding available for training places for doctors and nurses from September 2018. There are currently over 52,000 nurses in undergraduate training, over 30,000 doctors in undergraduate training, and over 50,000 doctors currently in foundation and specialty postgraduate medical training. The Department is continuing to work closely with universities and stakeholders to ensure the uptake of additional training places.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a vital strategic framework to ensure that over the next 10 years the NHS will have the staff it needs, so that nurses and doctors can administer the expert compassionate care they are committed to providing. Baroness Dido Harding, Chair of NHS Improvement, working closely with Sir David Behan, Chair of Health Education England, will lead a number of programmes to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. Baroness Harding and Sir David Behan will present initial recommendations to the Department in spring 2019. A final workforce implementation plan will follow later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review.

Note:

¹NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England: latest data as at October 2018