Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to (a) develop and (b) publish the long-term workforce strategy for the NHS; and if his Department will consult organisations representing patients on that strategy.

In July 2021, the Department commissioned Health Education England (HEE) to review long term trends for the health and regulated social care workforce and update the existing long term strategic framework, ‘Framework-15’. This review is nearing completion and we anticipate that the updated Framework-15 will be published in summer 2022.

As part of the development of Framework-15, over 1,000 senior leaders, frontline staff, the future workforce, academics and think tanks, trade unions and others were consulted. A call for evidence issued in the autumn of 2021 elicited 322 responses and three large, deliberative events saw engagement with over 200 senior leaders and professionals from the health and social care system.

In January 2022, the Department commissioned NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop a long-term workforce plan to supplement the NHS People Plan and develop themes in the recent Elective Recovery Plan. It will also align with the priorities in HEE’s forthcoming Framework-15. We intend to engage with a range of stakeholders in developing this plan and patient representative groups will be consulted where appropriate. Its conclusions will be made available in due course.