Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published by the Royal College of Anaesthetists Working together to improve retention in anaesthesia, published on 30 September, in particular its finding that "1 in 4 Consultants and 1 in 5 SAS Anaesthetists planned to leave the NHS within five years"; and what steps they intend to take to promote the retention of NHS staff.

The Government appreciates the dedication and contribution of Anaesthetists to our National Health Service. As of the end of July 2021, we saw an increase of 2.3% in full time equivalent (FTE) doctors and 2.0% FTE Specialty doctors and associate specialist doctors working in the NHS in the specialism of anaesthetics compared to a year ago. The NHS England and NHS Improvement National Retention Programme team are engaging with the Royal College of Anaesthetists to agree a way forward to implement the report’s recommendations. The NHS retention programme is using data to continuously understand why NHS staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to encourage them to stay, with a particular focus on colleagues closer to retirement and those at the start of the career. These include: pension support, access to a range of health and wellbeing initiatives, flexible working opportunities, mentoring and coaching as well as targeted training such as the Health Education England programme “Enhancing Junior Doctors Working Lives” which encourages doctors to stay in training.