Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in the health and social care sector during the covid-19 outbreak.

Social care workers are at the frontline of our battle with COVID-19. We are grateful to all care workers, caring for our loved ones every day.

Care workers must follow the guidance on isolating if they or a household member have COVID-19 symptoms - which means that there are higher absence levels than normal – but there must also be enough staff to provide essential care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been monitoring staff absence rates to see where there are particular risks.The CQC is sharing this information with local authorities and the Government has provided them with guidance on supporting care providers. We are encouraging returning health and social care professionals to work in social care and we have launched a national recruitment campaign with the ambition to attract 20,000 people into adult social care.