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 help put in place an effective workforce strategy for the neurology profession prior to the publication of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025.

This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, including in neurology.

As of July 2024, there were over 1,800 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology in NHS trusts and other organisations in England. This includes over 900 FTE consultant neurologists. In 2023, the fill rate for recruitment into the specialty of neurology in England was 94%.

There are currently no plans for a specific workforce strategy for the neurology profession prior to the publication of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

The NHS workforce has been overworked for years, leading to staff becoming burnt out and demoralised. The NHS is broken but not beaten, and together we will turn it around. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.