Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the Royal College of Physicians' (RCP) eleventh survey of RCP members and fellows that 27 per cent of consultants expect to retire in the next three years and many within the next 18 months, whether the NHS has a plan in place to prevent staff shortages.

In April 2021 there were over 4,000 more doctors working in hospital and community health service settings compared to April 2020. This includes almost 1,500 more consultants and around 2,200 more doctors in training. We have increased the number of medical school places by 1,500 over recent years, opening five new medical schools across the country. NHS England and NHS Improvement are leading work on retaining our current medical workforce including supporting groups who may be more likely to leave following COVID-19 through the Generational retention programme.