Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in NHS organisations in East Yorkshire constituency.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term.

To boost recruitment, the Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over five years to fund additional education and training places. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching £6.1 billion over the next two years.

By significantly expanding domestic education, training and recruitment, we will have more healthcare professionals working in the NHS. This will include more doctors and nurses alongside an expansion in a range of other professions, including more staff working in new roles.

The Long Term Workforce Plan also builds on the People Plan, setting out how to improve culture and leadership to ensure that up to 130,000 more staff are retained within the NHS over the next 15 years. This includes ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to health and wellbeing support, and work in a team that is well led. These interventions apply across staff groups and geographical regions.

These recruitment and retention initiatives apply across the country, including in the East Yorkshire constituency.