Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of the workforce capacity in community settings to help reduce pressure on elective backlogs.

The 10-Year Health Plan committed to shifting care from the hospital to the community and to introducing Neighbourhood Health Services to bring together teams of professionals closer to people’s homes to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver these transformed services. The plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.