Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their emergency care plan announced on 30 January, how many extra staff will be required to staff the extra (1) hospital beds, and (2) ambulances.

While all areas of the National Health Service workforce are under pressure, we know that there are specific areas of the urgent & emergency care (UEC) workforce which we need to expand. Further detail will be set out as part of the long-term workforce plan, to be published this year.

NHS England has asked systems as part of the 2023/24 planning round to develop and implement integrated UEC workforce plans based on capacity and demand assessments in line with local population need. As such, the number of extra staff required is still under consideration.