Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure that steps to reduce the elective backlog do not create unsustainable workforce pressures on general practice.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years. The NHS will expand capacity through recruitment and retention in specific staff groups and sectors, including support for mental and physical health and wellbeing to meet local needs. We have committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years.