Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time taken is for an applicant to the NHS Bringing back staff campaign to rejoin the workforce.

The Department has worked closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to support staff who previously left the National Health Service workforce and wish to aid the response to the COVID-19 emergency.

The Bring Back Scheme process is designed to deploy returning healthcare professionals to local trusts and healthcare employers where they are needed most. The final decision to employ a returning professional lies with the employing organisation.

There is no average figure available for the time taken to complete pre-employment checks and to be deployed. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement expects this process to take a minimum of 7-10 days.