Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish comparative data on (a) anticipated NHS workforce retirements and (b) the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan; and if will make a statement.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out actions to deliver sustained gains in retention across the whole workforce. The collective impact of the Plan’s proposals are expected to reduce the leaver rate for NHS employed staff from 9.1% in 2022 to between 7.4% and 8.2% over the course of the modelling period, equivalent to retaining 55,000 to 128,000 full time equivalent. These are lower than published leaver rates as they do not include those leaving NHS temporarily such as on maternity leave.

Retirement is one of several reasons staff leave the NHS. Estimates for retirement separate from leavers overall are not made within the Plan’s modelling.

The National Audit Office (NAO) will carry out an independent assessment of the modelling behind the Plan. The NAO anticipates publishing their independent assessment in the first half of 2024.