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 address the gender pay gap in the NHS.

The gender pay gap in the health and social care sector, according to the Office of National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earning is 17.3%. Although this figure has reduced from the previous year, it is still a concern, particularly given that this sector employs a much higher proportion of women than men.

The findings of the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine Review will have implications not only for medicine but across the wider National Health Service workforce and will closely examine the issues that make progression in medicine problematic for women. Possible interventions have already been identified that can help reduce the gender pay gap in medicine and the wider NHS including more transparency in pay, promotion and reward.

The Government Equalities Office have published evidence based guidance on practical actions employers can take to close the gap, alongside help to diagnose their gaps and develop an action plan. The Department is working with the Government Equalities Office, NHS employers and arm’s length bodies to ensure the good practice is disseminated across the NHS. We expect all NHS employers to have a clear action plan to address their gender pay gap.

Developments in improving the work life balance in the NHS will also contribute to a reduction in the gender pay gap in the NHS. The extension of shared parental leave to new doctors and dentists in training from 1 April is an important step towards our health service being a more flexible and responsive employer, giving greater choice of how their employees juggle the demands of work and family.