Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS staff on (a) conditions of employment, (b) workload and (c) other non pay matters affecting recruitment and retention.

Ministers’ regularly meet with National Health Service staff and their representative bodies to discuss ongoing issues, including conditions of employment, workload, recruitment and retention.

The NHS People Plan and NHS People Promise, published in July 2020, sets out a comprehensive range of actions that are focussed on making the NHS a better place to work and improving retention. This includes a stronger focus on health and wellbeing, strengthening leadership and management to support staff and expanding opportunities for flexible working. The long term workforce plan that we have committed to publishing this year will build on this so that we can ensure the NHS has the robust and resilient workforce it needs for the future.