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 increase recruitment in NHS mental health services in Greater Manchester.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers nationally to reduce wait times and provide faster treatment. To ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, we will also publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

The Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust reports that recruitment to substantive posts has improved, and the use of temporary staff has reduced, with the overall vacancy rate reducing to 9.4% in January 2025, against an in-year target of 11.4%.

The trust recognises the need to retain its skilled workforce, and it has seen significant improvements in its turnover, which has reduced from more than 17% in June 2023 to 9.8% in January 2025, against an in-year target of 12.5%.

In the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, recruitment to substantive posts has also improved, whilst the use of temporary staff has reduced. Its vacancy rate in January 2025 had reduced to 8.5%, against an in-year target of 9.5%. Plans are in place to address vacancies within the nursing and medical workforce, and improvements in retaining the skilled workforce have resulted in a turnover which has reduced from 12.1% in June 2023 to 9.5% in January 2025, against a target of 9.6%.

In addition, a child and adolescent mental health services recruitment campaign is running across Greater Manchester between January and July 2025, to recruit to roles within this specialism.