Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the (i) NHS and (ii) social care in (A) rural and (B) coastal areas of England.

No specific assessment has been made. Within social care, local authorities are responsible for ensuring there is sufficient workforce capacity to meet the care needs of the local population. To support local authorities, we have established a £15 million international recruitment fund and a new domestic recruitment campaign will launch shortly. The Department has also commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan for the National Health Service.

The NHS People Plan sets out a range of actions to improve staff retention, such as creating a more inclusive culture through measures to address health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working. NHS England is supporting local systems to develop tailored health and wellbeing offers to meet the needs of the workforce, including in rural and coastal areas. This includes the mental health hubs in each integrated care system and occupational health services which are being supported through a national programme, ‘Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing’.