Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make additional funding available for recruitment to tackle the shortfall in staff in the NHS in Greater Manchester.

The 2021 Spending Review confirmed that expenditure on the National Health Service would continue to grow at 3.8% in real terms. The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership has received approximately £4.7 billion in 2021/22 - an increase of approximately £175 million or 3.9% on the previous year.

Between September 2020 and September 2021, the number of doctors in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in the North West increased by 791 or 4.8% and the number of nurses increased by 1,673 or 3.7%. We are on schedule to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. In 2020, there were 1,500 additional medical school places available - a 25% increase over three years. This expansion will maximise future workforce supply in the NHS, including in Greater Manchester.