Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that newly qualified nursing associates are (a) guaranteed appropriate Band 4 roles and (b) are not left without employment opportunities after completing their training.

Decisions on the availability of job opportunities for newly qualified nursing associates and other healthcare professionals trained in the United Kingdom are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.