Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the 10 year Workforce Plan will help tackle regional variations in access to specialist care for people with (a) long-term and (b) complex conditions.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. Its development will include consideration of regional variations in access to specialist care.

We are committed to working with partners to ensure the plan meets its aims and will engage independent experts to make sure the plan is ambitious, forward looking, and evidence based.