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Written Question
Rheumatology: Consultants
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, what (a) methodology and (b) criteria were used to determine the required increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demand for full time equivalent grade 1 paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.

This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.

This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.


Written Question
Rheumatology: Consultants
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, how her Department determines the commensurate increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demands without an estimation of vacancies for Full Time Equivalent Grade 1 (a) adult and (b) paediatric rheumatology consultants.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.

This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.

This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.


Written Question
Midwives: Labour Turnover and Recruitment
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention rates of midwives.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is already taking actions to grow and train the midwifery workforce. Actions are underway to continue funding the shortened midwifery course for registered nurses in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This provides registered nurses with a two-year programme to become registered midwives and will lead to the registration of over 1,000 more midwives by 2026.

These actions are on top of progress already made over recent years, including a 13% planned increase in the number of midwives in training by 2024/25 compared to 2021/22.

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, including the ambition to increase the number of nursing and midwifery training places to around 58,000 by 2031/32.

The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The following table sets out the planned intake of midwifery students over the course of the plan:

Baseline* (2022)

2025

2026

2027

2028

2031**

Midwifery Training Intake

3,778

4,269

4,269

4,269

4,269

4,269

* Current intake is based on the Student Data Collection which includes undergraduate, postgraduate and apprentices

** The planned level of increase sits within a modelled range, where the level required is dependent on productivity and retention levels alongside other factors.


Written Question
Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has a plan to increase the number of (a) adult and (b) paediatric full time equivalent (i) fully qualified grade one rheumatology consultants and (ii) rheumatology specialist nurses in England over the next (A) 12 months, (B) five years and (C) 15 years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No specific estimate has been made of adult or paediatric consultant rheumatologist vacancies. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 or 14% more than in 2019. In 2022/23 and 2023/24, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, increased the number of specialist rheumatology training posts by 12 and five respectively.

The Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published on 30 June 2023 aims to double the number of medical school places in England, taking the total number of places to 10,000 by 2028/29 and 15,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Servuce in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.

The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the total number of places to nearly 28,000 by 2028/29 and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for nurses specialising in rheumatology.


Written Question
Rheumatology: Consultants
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of full time equivalent fully qualified grade one (a) adult rheumatology and (b) pediatric rheumatology consultant vacancies in England.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No specific estimate has been made of adult or paediatric consultant rheumatologist vacancies. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 or 14% more than in 2019. In 2022/23 and 2023/24, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, increased the number of specialist rheumatology training posts by 12 and five respectively.

The Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published on 30 June 2023 aims to double the number of medical school places in England, taking the total number of places to 10,000 by 2028/29 and 15,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Servuce in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.

The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the total number of places to nearly 28,000 by 2028/29 and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for nurses specialising in rheumatology.


Written Question
Rheumatology
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to increase the number of (a) rheumatologists and (b) rheumatology specialist nurses in England over the next (i) 12 months, (ii) five years and (iii) 15 years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) sets out plans for the biggest increase in training numbers in the National Health Service’s history to meet the challenge of a growing and ageing population over the next 15 years. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 (14%) more than in 2019.

The LTWP aims to double the number of medical school places in England, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29, and to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the NHS in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.

The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the number of total places up to nearly 28,000 in 2028/29, and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP also includes the ambition to increase allied health professionals (AHPs) training places by 8% by 2024/25, and by 13% to 17,000 by 2028/29. Specialising in rheumatology is a post-registration option for nurses and allied health professionals and the LTWP expansion will increase the pool of nurses and AHP’s who wish to specialise in rheumatology.


Written Question
Rheumatology
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)

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 increase the numbers of (a) nurses and (b) allied professionals specialising in rheumatology as a post registration option.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) sets out plans for the biggest increase in training numbers in the National Health Service’s history to meet the challenge of a growing and ageing population over the next 15 years. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 (14%) more than in 2019.

The LTWP aims to double the number of medical school places in England, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29, and to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the NHS in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.

The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the number of total places up to nearly 28,000 in 2028/29, and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP also includes the ambition to increase allied health professionals (AHPs) training places by 8% by 2024/25, and by 13% to 17,000 by 2028/29. Specialising in rheumatology is a post-registration option for nurses and allied health professionals and the LTWP expansion will increase the pool of nurses and AHP’s who wish to specialise in rheumatology.


Written Question
NHS
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department made use of digital modelling when preparing its NHS Long Term Work Plan.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will put staffing across the National Health Service on a sustainable footing. It will deliver the biggest increase in training numbers in the NHS’s history with record numbers of nurses, doctors, dentists, allied health professionals and other key healthcare staff to address the gaps in the current workforce and meet the challenge of a growing and ageing population. The modelling used in the Plan is founded on data, evidence and analysis and provides a set of broad ranges to quantify the potential impact of actions over its 15-year timeframe.


Written Question
Orthopaedics: Health Professions
Thursday 16th November 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2023 to Question 180601 on Orthopaedics: Health Professions, what plans she has to (a) support NHS staff retention and (b) ensure vacancies are filled in (i) trauma and orthopaedics and (ii) rheumatology.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) sets out how we will meet the workforce challenges of the future. This includes a plan to improve retention and ensure up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the National Health Service by improving culture, leadership and wellbeing. We will build on what we know works, for example ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to wellbeing support, and work in well-led teams. This will apply to all NHS staff, including those working in trauma, orthopaedics and rheumatology.

There are currently record numbers of staff working in the NHS and we are backing the LTWP by investing over £2.4 billion to deliver more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This includes doubling the number of medical school training places and increasing adult nursing training places by 92%. The LTWP commits to ensuring that growth in specialty training will be commensurate with the growth in undergraduate medical training to ensure the NHS workforce is able to meet the changing needs of the population in the next 15 years, which will include trauma, orthopaedics and rheumatology.


Written Question
Dementia: Research
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)

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 ensure that people with dementia are routinely offered the option of taking part in research.

Answered by Will Quince

The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia. Join Dementia Research (JDR), delivered by the Department via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer Scotland and Alzheimer’s Research UK, is our main tool for enabling people to register their interest in dementia research and be matched to trials. The goal is to improve participation and diversity in dementia research by making it possible for anyone who wants to be involved in dementia research to get the chance to do so.

To increase uptake and awareness of research opportunities, the NIHR is undertaking several actions, including, direct text messaging from general practitioners to patients at selected sites across England, establishing links with NHS Memory Services and other care networks to integrate discussion of JDR into their processes, working with the NHS Admiral Nurses to develop training materials to support healthcare professionals when discussing research with patients and working to establish a national network of local JDR champions who will build on relationships with local organisations, charities and local groups representing under-represented communities to engage people with JDR.