Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on increasing the number of medical reservists joining the Armed Forces.

People working in the National Health Service have many transferable skills that can be of great benefit to the Armed Forces reserve, whether they be clinicians, such as doctors and nurses, or staff working in leadership or management roles. There have been no recent ministerial discussions on this issue. However, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence are working with NHS Employers to ensure that NHS organisations are supportive and flexible when it comes to people joining the Armed Forces reserve, and to enable individuals to train and deploy when needed.