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 impact of inflation on nurses' pay; and whether the Government plans to take steps in response to that matter.

The Government is looking to the independent National Health Service Pay Review Bodies for a recommendation for NHS staff not in multi-year pay deals. The Bodies are comprised of industry experts which make recommendations based on an assessment of evidence from stakeholders, trade unions and the Government. This considers factors such as inflation and the economic context, recruitment and retention and the morale and motivation of NHS staff. As such, we expect the Pay Review Bodies to make an assessment of inflationary impacts.