Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure that there is nursing representation in national negotiations on primary care (a) funding and (b) workforce planning.

We have always valued input from a range of stakeholders on the future of general practice, including on funding and workforce planning, and we would be happy to continue to engage with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on this, as we have done in previous pre-consultation engagement exercises.

The Government is committed to ensuring the general practice nursing workforce is sustainable, supported and valued for the work they do. Good staff experience is crucial in ensuring the National Health Service is able to recruit and retain staff and its importance is recognised and illustrated in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.

We will publish a 10-Year Workforce Plan which will ensure that staff will be better treated and have better training, more fulfilling roles and hope for the future, so they can achieve more. A formal call for evidence has been launched, which will provide stakeholders the opportunity to contribute directly to the Plan’s development.