Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS Digital will include the number of speech and language therapists working in (a) children and young people’s and (b) adult NHS mental health services in its estimate of the mental health workforce.

NHS Digital’s estimate of the mental health workforce is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). ESR is the HR and payroll system for the National Health Service.

In ESR, staff who are identified to either have an Occupation Code or who work in an area suggesting that they primarily work to provide or support the provision of mental health are included in NHS Digital’s estimate of the mental health workforce. This includes speech and language therapists who meet these criteria