Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 58 per cent of consultant physicians who took part in the Royal College of Physicians Census 2023 reported having vacant consultant posts.

We are growing the workforce, with 1,872 (3.5%) more consultants in NHS trusts and commissioning bodies than last year. The Government recently published the Long Term Workforce Plan. The plan includes projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed for the next 15 years, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.

We value the work of NHS consultants. To grow numbers further, from Autumn, recently retired consultant doctors will have a new option to offer their availability to trusts across England, to support delivery of outpatient care, through the NHS Emeritus Doctor Scheme.