Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the Royal College of Physicians’ 2020 Physicians Census published by the Royal College of Physicians’ on 15 November 2021, that 48 per cent of advertised consultant posts were unfilled in 2020, what comparative estimate he has made of the size of the (a) NHS workforce and (b) demand for NHS services.

The Department has made no such comparative estimate.

In July 2021 the Department commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health and registered social care workforce. This will renew the long-term strategic framework for the health workforce, to ensure we have the right skills and behaviours to deliver high quality clinical services and standards of patient care.