Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to work with the NHS and other partners in primary and community care to increase health visitor numbers in (a) the UK, (b) Teesside, and (c) Stockton South constituency.

Health visitors are often employed by organisations outside of the National Health Service, meaning data about total workforce numbers is not held centrally. At a national level, this means we do not make assessments on local health visitor numbers. However, we are working with partners on the NHS interim People Plan to ensure that we have access to the staff we need across England, including areas such as Teesside and Stockton South.

Health visitor education, training and recruitment in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved administrations.