Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of (a) trends in the level of the workload facing NHS nursing staff and (b) the adequacy of the size of the workforce to meet that workload.

National Health Service employers keep staff workload under continual review and the Care Quality Commission assess staffing levels as part of their regulation and oversight responsibilities. NHS England and NHS Improvement conduct regular surveys and monitor workload related data sources on staff experience. The Department also discusses workload with trade unions and employers in the National Social Partnership Forum. NHS England and NHS Improvement have used the NHS People Plan to put in place a wide range of measures to support staff throughout this demanding period. We continue to invest in the NHS workforce and we have commissioned Health Education England to develop the long term strategic framework to ensure that the NHS has the staff it needs.