Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the additional 10,000 primary and community health and care professionals which his Department plans to make available by 2020 will be (a) existing NHS staff and (b) new starters.

Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring a secure workforce supply for the future balancing need against demand, taking into account factors such as the age profile of the existing workforce, the impact of technology, and new drugs, and is committed to a substantial increase in training posts to deliver new primary and community health professionals by 2020. In addition, Health Education England and NHS England are bringing forward actions to improve retention and return to practice rates within the current general practitioner, nurse and Allied Health Professional workforce. It is too early to say what proportion of additional professionals will be existing National Health Service staff or new starters.