Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to ensure that (1) doctors, (2) nurses, and (3) other healthcare workers, who have registered respectively with the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Health and Care Professions Council to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic are able to remain in service in the NHS once the immediate state of emergency subsides.

Temporary emergency registration powers are available to the registrars of the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Health and Care Professions Council for the duration of an emergency, as declared by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The Department is working with the healthcare professional regulators, the devolved administrations, NHS England and NHS Improvement and employing organisations to ensure that the closure of the temporary emergency registers takes place in a planned and co-ordinated way.

The temporary registers will be closed at the end of the COVID-19 emergency period (as declared by the Secretary of State) and all those who have joined the temporary registers will have their registration revoked. However, we are keen that anyone who has returned to practice and who wishes to remain working beyond the emergency period is encouraged and supported to join the full register. To do so they will need to demonstrate that they meet the required standards and pay the relevant registration fees.