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 help ensure that the NHS is prepared to tackle pressures during winter 2022-23 caused by (a) the flu, (b) covid-19 and (c) levels of NHS staff vacancies.

The National Health Service is delivering an integrated COVID-19 booster and flu vaccination programme to increase immunity for those at higher risk from COVID-19 and flu during the winter and reduce pressure on healthcare services. In winter 2022/23, the NHS will also increase bed capacity by the equivalent of at least 7,000 general and acute beds, maximise the use of virtual wards, and establish Acute Respiratory Infection hubs to support same day assessment and reduce admissions.

Health Education England has a mandated target to train 3,000 paramedic graduates nationally per annum from 2021 to 2024 to increase the domestic paramedic workforce. The NHS is maximising the recruitment of new staff in primary care, including care co-ordinators and social prescribing link workers. This is in addition to an investment of at least £1.5 billion in 2020 to create an additional 50 million general practice appointments by 2024.