Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the Royal College of Nursing that the fall in each of the past three years in applications to university nursing courses is a direct threat to patient safety, and what actions they are taking to improve patient safety in England.

The number of applicants continues to outstrip the places on offer. Nursing training places are competitive, and lead to an attractive and important career in the National Health Service.

Record numbers of nurses are now working in the NHS, and the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion of funding, will add 24,000 more nurse and midwifery training places by 2031.

Over the last decade, the Government and system partners have delivered major initiatives to advance patient safety in the NHS. This includes implementing the first NHS Patient Safety Strategy, establishing the independent Health Services Safety Investigations Body to address the most serious patient safety incidents, and appointing the first Patient Safety Commissioner to champion the patient voice in relation to the safety of medicines and medical devices.