Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to reduce potential risks to patient safety driving from unfilled NHS job vacancies.

Local National Health Service trusts are responsible for managing staffing levels and for recruiting the appropriate number of health professionals required to meet local service and patient need. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, the Care Quality Commission monitors compliance with Regulation 18 to ensure that providers have sufficient suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who receive effective support, supervision and development and work effectively to provide safe care.

The latest workforce statistics show that there are now more than 29,500 additional staff working in hospitals and commissioning support than a year ago, including over 9,600 more nurses and almost 4,100 more doctors. We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament through investment in a diverse training pipeline and recruitment and retention. The Government has funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places each year for domestic students in England - a 25% increase over three years. To support improving NHS staff retention, 2020 NHS People Plan focuses on staff health and wellbeing, more support for flexible working and a renewed commitment to tackling inequality.