Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefit of redeploying NHS nurses and doctors to care homes, and what representations they have received from the National Care Forum and other care organisations about any such redeployment.

We are very grateful for the many health professionals who are supporting the local health and care system during the pandemic, including National Health Service support to enable nurse returners to be deployed to care homes through the Bringing Back Staff programme.

In April, we published COVID-19: Our Action Plan for Adult Social Care setting out the measures that the Government and other parts of the system are taking to support adult social care, to ensure people in care homes and other settings continue to receive the care they need. We are increasing funding and support to care homes to reduce the spread of infection and support workforce resilience, working with local authorities and health. We continue to work closely with our senior leaders’ group which includes the National Care Forum, who advise the Government on the measures we are taking to maximise workforce supply and capacity. A copy of COVID-19: Our Action Plan for Adult Social Care is attached.