Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that disabled people who are (a) in work and (b) are seeking to return to work have access to occupational health services.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a founding member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UK is committed to our obligations to the organisation and continues to be actively engaged in its work.
The Government’s Occupational Health (OH) reform programme is focused on increasing private market coverage of employer led OH to help businesses support disabled employees and those with health conditions stay in, succeed in, and return to work.
This programme of work includes the OH subsidy pilot for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the £1m innovation fund launched in January 2023 which aim to increase access to and capacity in OH. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme also launched in July 2023 and funds doctors and nurses to undertake Occupational Health training courses and qualifications.
In the summer 2023, to better support employee health, the Government consulted on ways to increase employer uptake of OH services. The Government’s response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation was published following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. This outlined plans to imminently set up an expert task and finish group to support the development of a voluntary minimum framework for quality OH provision which employers could adopt to help improve employee health at work.
The response also explored options for new voluntary national workplace health and disability standards; a potential new SME group purchasing framework supported by a digital marketplace; and using the learning, including from our existing Workforce Expansion scheme, to consider a long-term strategic OH workforce approach to a multidisciplinary work and health workforce for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. We have increased the number of GP training places and 2022 saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board advises that primary care is recognised as the cornerstone of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS), and that the primary care sector in the ICS has made significant progress over recent years. It has set out key initiatives, including making Birmingham and Solihull a destination for newly qualified doctors and nurses and for existing doctors and nurses to feel valued. The ICS has been cited as an exemplar for the ‘New to Practice Fellowships Scheme’, which offers a two-year programme of support available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across primary care networks.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain GPs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. We have increased the number of GP training places and 2022 saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board advises that primary care is recognised as the cornerstone of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS), and that the primary care sector in the ICS has made significant progress over recent years. It has set out key initiatives, including making Birmingham and Solihull a destination for newly qualified doctors and nurses and for existing doctors and nurses to feel valued. The ICS has been cited as an exemplar for the ‘New to Practice Fellowships Scheme’, which offers a two-year programme of support available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across primary care networks.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people entered the NHS midwifery workforce through (a) undergraduate training, (b) an apprenticeship, (c) a postgraduate conversion, (d) a return to midwifery programme and (e) international recruitment in the most recent period for which data are available; and if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of each such route on the size of the midwifery workforce in each of the (i) last and (ii) next five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently considering the methodology for undertaking a proper assessment of the impact of the various supply routes into the midwifery workforce.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in 2023 sets out the need to grow midwifery education and training, in line with the conclusions of the Ockenden Review. We will increase midwifery training placements from a baseline of 3,778 places to 4,269 places, and that by 2028 we envisage that about 5% will be through apprenticeships. We envisage that trusts will meet establishment levels set by midwifery staffing tools and achieve fill rates by 2027/28. Recent investment in midwifery of 650 training places in 2019 and 1,000 in each of the following three years means we expect to see solid growth in midwives of between 1.8 and 1.9% per year over the course of the plan. These increases are being measured against the 2018/19 baseline of 2,715 starters on midwifery programmes. And in early 2022, a funding offer was agreed to support 300 places for adult nurses on the shortened midwifery programme.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform and educate employers and occupational health professionals about the specific workplace adaptations that people with Hidradenitis suppurativa may require.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Government response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation published last year, the Government will develop a voluntary minimum framework for quality occupational health, aiming to set out the minimum level of provision that employers can adopt to support those with health conditions and disabilities in the workplace. This builds on the development of a digital information and advice service for employers, offering tailored guidance on health and disability, to equip employers to have work and health conversations and signpost to sources of expert support. A copy of the Government response to the consultation is attached.
The Government also announced that it will identify longer-term options to build multidisciplinary workforce capability in work and health, building on existing work with the sector and exploring opportunities for businesses and providers to improve support for their employees. The Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme launched in July 2023 funds doctors and nurses to undertake occupational health training courses and qualifications with 99 doctors and nurses trained to date.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 ensure adequate staffing levels within NHS organisations across Leicester and Leicestershire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, 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.
The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching a record £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 LTWP also commits to retaining our workforce, keeping up to 130,000 more staff in the NHS by improving culture, leadership and wellbeing.
As of September 2023, there are currently 15,654 full time equivalent (FTE) staff working in University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. This is 1,143 or 7.9% more than this time last year. This includes 2,219 FTE doctors, 180 or 8.8% more than last year, and 3,998 FTE nurses, 349 or 9.6% more than last year.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan on regional variations in access to Parkinson’s care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The Long Term Workforce Plan, which was published in June 2023, includes projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed over the next 15 years.
It sets out the mix and number of staff required, as well as the actions and reforms across the National Health Service that will be needed to reduce the supply gap and improve retention. This plan will help ensure we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills and roles, in the right locations and at the right time, to transform and deliver high-quality services fit for the future.
The modelling and staff training plans presented in the Plan look at the NHS as a whole at a high level, to inform government decisions on the workforce. This is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help reduce waiting times in children’s community health services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We monitor community health services waiting lists for children and young people and hold NHS England to account on actions to reduce waiting times.
NHS England has asked local health systems to develop plans to reduce waiting lists for community health services.
Recognising the waiting times for speech and language therapy, in September 2023, the Department for Education launched 'Early Language Support for Every Child' (ELSEC), with NHS England. ELSEC is a two-year pathfinder programme funding innovative workforce models to improve early identification and support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs within early years and primary school settings. ELSEC will take place in nine sites across England, one in each Change Programme Partnership. It is running across two academic years from September 2023 to August 2025.
In future more healthcare will be provided in the community, and that is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan includes commitments to increase the community workforce, with increases in training places for community nurses and allied health professionals, and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring physician associates to work under a named registered medical practitioner.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both in training, and subsequently qualified practice, physician associates (PAs) must work with a dedicated medical supervisor which will be a consultant, general practitioner, or other senior medical personnel.
Training to become a PA involves supervised practice with real patients in clinical attachments. The dedicated medical supervisor is responsible for the supervision and management of a student’s educational progress throughout the clinical placements of the course. However, any professional in a placement location who is competent to do so may train, supervise, and assess a PA student in a particular skill, procedure, or competence. This includes practising PAs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.