Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme post-acute audit finding of December 2021, that waiting times for clinical psychologists average 10 weeks from referral to treatment, what assessment he has made of the impact of that waiting time on stroke rehabilitation; and what further steps he will take to recruit and train more clinical psychologists.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have funded the stroke rehabilitation pilot programme of three sites across England which are testing improved ways of delivering stroke rehabilitation, which include access to psychological support. Lessons learned from these pilots will improve the principles and delivery of community-based stroke rehabilitation across England

Health Education England has supported a 60% expansion in the clinical psychology training intake over the past two years. This is expected to achieve a growth of 2,520 additional psychologists in the National Health Service workforce by 2025. Since 2020/21, there are over 500 additional clinical psychology trainees employed in NHS services, creating additional capacity at the beginning of their training.