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To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the shortage of doctors in the NHS.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the shortage of doctors in the NHS.
In England, to further increase the supply of doctors we have increased the number of medical school places by 1,500 and opened five medical schools. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and the first of these doctors will enter the workforce from 2023. We are also taking action to increase the retention of doctors. The Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives programme, led by Health Education England, is delivering a range of initiatives to improve the quality of life of doctors in training.
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for Care on 24 March (HCWS877), what functions are covered by the term "speciality and associate specialist doctors"; which of these functions had vacancies to improve the (1) recruitment, and (2) percentage of doctors in...
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for Care on 24 March (HCWS877), what functions are covered by the term "speciality and associate specialist doctors"; which of these functions had vacancies to improve the (1) recruitment, and (2) percentage of doctors in...
The term ‘specialty and associate specialist’ refers to doctors employed on a number of different medical contracts. They generally require at least four years full time post-graduate training at least two of which must be in a specialty training programme. This group of staff are employed across all specialties and routinely carry out a range of medical functions appropriate to their level of expertise.
We do not collect data on vacancies for doctors by grade. The pay and contract reform agreement delivers a number of changes which will contribute to the improvement of NHS services - for example, reducing the hours paid at enhanced rates will improve flexible service provision and introducing a new senior grade will enable employers to achieve the best skill mix for multi-disciplinary teams. The total cost of the agreement will depend on the number of doctors opting to transfer to the new contracts. In the first year of operation we expect an average cost of 3% per full time equivalent for those who transfer to the new terms and conditions.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which NHS shortages of (1) nurses, (2) medical practitioners, and (3) other staff, could be filled by those coming to the UK from Hong Kong under (a) the British National (Overseas) visa, and (b) any other schemes;...
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which NHS shortages of (1) nurses, (2) medical practitioners, and (3) other staff, could be filled by those coming to the UK from Hong Kong under (a) the British National (Overseas) visa, and (b) any other schemes;...
Hong Kong is not on the World Health Organization’s Workforce Support and Safeguard List, 2020. Therefore, the Department considers Hong Kong a suitable country for supplying the National Health Service with qualified health workers. Agencies are working in Hong Kong and some nurses have already joined the NHS.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Skills for Care The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, published in October; and what steps they are taking to fill social care job vacancies.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Skills for Care The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, published in October; and what steps they are taking to fill social care job vacancies.
The Department has noted the findings of this report. The Department funds Skills for Care, as a key delivery partner, to support the development of skills in the adult social care sector and address issues related to recruitment, retention, development and wellbeing of staff.
In order to attract more people to work in the sector we ran a national recruitment campaign across broadcast, digital and social media highlighting the vital work social care workers do, we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to promote adult social care careers to jobseekers, and we have launched an online recruitment tool, Join Social Care, to simplify and fast track the recruitment process. We are continuing to offer free rapid online induction training through Skills for Care, to help induct and train redeployees, new starters, existing staff and new volunteers in social care services.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to fill staff vacancies in the NHS; and from where they expect to recruit such staff (1) now, and (2) in the future.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to fill staff vacancies in the NHS; and from where they expect to recruit such staff (1) now, and (2) in the future.
We are the NHS: People Plan 2020-2021 sets out actions to expand and develop our workforce by retaining staff for longer and building on the renewed interest in National Health Service careers. A copy is attached. The next phase of the NHS People Plan will focus on workforce growth and ensuring it has the right skills mix in place for a flexible and modern NHS.
My Lords, there is no doubt that we need more people to choose to work in social care. Prior to the pandemic, the vacancy rates for care workers in residential care and domiciliary care were 6.4% and 11.4% respectively. By June 2020, that had declined to an overall rate of 6.6%. We would like to see this number reduced further, which is why we are taking action to support recruitment nationally, and we expect local authorities to support care providers locally.
My Lords, there is no doubt that we need more people to choose to work in social care. Prior to the pandemic, the vacancy rates for care workers in residential care and domiciliary care were 6.4% and 11.4% respectively. By June 2020, that had declined to an overall rate of 6.6%. We would like to see this number reduced further, which is why we are taking action to support recruitment nationally, and we expect local authorities to support care providers locally.
My Lords, the immediate focus is on the national recruitment campaign across broadcast, digital and social media. We acknowledge that there needs to be more recruitment in social care. Encouragingly, the vacancy rate is down, from 7.8% to 6.6%, but we recognise that more needs to be done. We have launched the CARE brand to try to create a stronger employment brand around the care profession.
My Lords, the immediate focus is on the national recruitment campaign across broadcast, digital and social media. We acknowledge that there needs to be more recruitment in social care. Encouragingly, the vacancy rate is down, from 7.8% to 6.6%, but we recognise that more needs to be done. We have launched the CARE brand to try to create a stronger employment brand around the care profession.
My Lords, yesterday the Prime Minister promised again to deal with the problem of social care. First, how will the Government fill these vacancies as a matter of urgency? Secondly, what priority will there be for social care in the Government’s digital and healthcare strategy?
My Lords, the recruitment of nurses is extremely encouraging. We have had an enormous response, with more than 10,000 nurses already recruited and recruitment rates to universities for nursing qualifications also up. We have an enormous marketing campaign supported by broadcast and social media. However, more needs to be done and we are very focused on this area. The use of agencies provides some surge capacity for hospitals—it has a role—but I completely acknowledge my noble friend’s point that agency support needs to be used in a considered, thoughtful and commercially intelligent way.
My Lords, the recruitment of nurses is extremely encouraging. We have had an enormous response, with more than 10,000 nurses already recruited and recruitment rates to universities for nursing qualifications also up. We have an enormous marketing campaign supported by broadcast and social media. However, more needs to be done and we are very focused on this area. The use of agencies provides some surge capacity for hospitals—it has a role—but I completely acknowledge my noble friend’s point that agency support needs to be used in a considered, thoughtful and commercially intelligent way.
My Lords, I welcome the increase in the number of social care workers but there is more to be done not just in social care but across the wider NHS. Can my noble friend update the House on progress on wider NHS recruitment and, in particular, the manifesto commitment of 50,000 more nurses for the NHS? I hope, too, that there will be a reduction in the proportion of expensive agency-employed staff.
The noble Baroness makes her point extremely well. We want social care to be a profession that people seek out, where they seek professional development and where they can find a fulfilling lifetime career. That will not be true for everyone, but we need a backbone of people who are committed to social care. That is why we have massively increased the funding to local authorities so that they can address the challenge of social care, and why we have published the adult social care coronavirus winter plan in order to provide short-term support for local authorities to achieve exactly what the noble Baroness has spelled out.
The noble Baroness makes her point extremely well. We want social care to be a profession that people seek out, where they seek professional development and where they can find a fulfilling lifetime career. That will not be true for everyone, but we need a backbone of people who are committed to social care. That is why we have massively increased the funding to local authorities so that they can address the challenge of social care, and why we have published the adult social care coronavirus winter plan in order to provide short-term support for local authorities to achieve exactly what the noble Baroness has spelled out.
My Lords, the introduction of living allowances for nursing students has improved recruitment this autumn. Stable funding for social care purchasers and providers in both care homes and domiciliary-based service is necessary to ensure dignity in care for the vulnerable in our society. It is essential that careers in social care are attractive and that staff are supported to deliver high-quality personalised care to clients. What plans do Her Majesty’s Government have to support local authorities, further education colleges and social care providers to train and retrain social care staff? Central funding is necessary. Incentives are needed to demonstrate that those joining the social care workforce are as valued by government and society as those working in the NHS.
My Lords, I pay tribute to all those who contribute to the care of loved ones, neighbours and people in their community. The noble Baroness is entirely right to acknowledge the enormous contribution, born of civic duty and personal love, that people put into caring for those in need. I acknowledge the 10 extra hours that she mentioned; I have no doubt that many have had to put in extra work during the pandemic. That is why we have put in significant financial support for the charity sector, and these are the considerations that we will put into future social care reform.
My Lords, I pay tribute to all those who contribute to the care of loved ones, neighbours and people in their community. The noble Baroness is entirely right to acknowledge the enormous contribution, born of civic duty and personal love, that people put into caring for those in need. I acknowledge the 10 extra hours that she mentioned; I have no doubt that many have had to put in extra work during the pandemic. That is why we have put in significant financial support for the charity sector, and these are the considerations that we will put into future social care reform.
My Lords, when there is a shortage of care workers, as there clearly is, the need for care does not go away; it simply falls disproportionately on the families and neighbours—the unpaid carers. Some 70% of these say that they have had to give more care than previously during the pandemic, with an average of 10 hours extra a week. How will these extra burdens on unpaid carers be recognised and supported both in the long-term plan and in social care reform, when we eventually get it?
This is a very important piece of communication. We have sought to work through the colleges and through the CQC system in order to make sure that employers make knowledge of these funds available to those in social care. I will look at the department to see what we are monitoring and what the take-up rates have been, and if I have any further information I will be glad to write to the noble Baroness with that data.
This is a very important piece of communication. We have sought to work through the colleges and through the CQC system in order to make sure that employers make knowledge of these funds available to those in social care. I will look at the department to see what we are monitoring and what the take-up rates have been, and if I have any further information I will be glad to write to the noble Baroness with that data.
My Lords, health and care workers can now be reimbursed for the immigration health surcharge. While this is unlikely to fill the gap identified by the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, it is welcome. How are the Government ensuring that all care workers who do not work in large hospitals are aware of their right to the refund, and how are they monitoring what percentage of those eligible are making the claim and what sort of establishment they work in?
My Lords, the use of agency staff in itself is not something that we are fighting against. Agency staff, although often denigrated, provide an incredibly valuable contribution to the social care efforts of the country. That said, the main way in which we can address the dependence on sometimes expensive employment practices is to ensure that there is a really large pool of people taking the kinds of jobs offered in social care. That is why we are marketing those roles heavily, improving the employer brand around social care and improving the financial arrangements for those seeking training in social care.
My Lords, the use of agency staff in itself is not something that we are fighting against. Agency staff, although often denigrated, provide an incredibly valuable contribution to the social care efforts of the country. That said, the main way in which we can address the dependence on sometimes expensive employment practices is to ensure that there is a really large pool of people taking the kinds of jobs offered in social care. That is why we are marketing those roles heavily, improving the employer brand around social care and improving the financial arrangements for those seeking training in social care.
My Lords, on agency staff, according to workforce statistics from the Department for Education in February, the number of agency social workers grew by 10% last year. Cheshire East Council, for example, spent more than £1.3 million on agency social workers last year, and these costs also include the fees that the authority has to pay to the agencies. What funding and other support has been provided to local councils specifically to enable them to reduce the reliance on agency staff and to ensure that the money spent on temporary staff in social care departments, care homes and domiciliary care can instead be used to increase the number of permanent, full-time and part-time staff in social care that are so desperately needed?
My Lords, I echo the tribute paid by my noble friend to those working in social care during the pandemic. Naturally we have a huge amount of concern about those in social care during the pandemic. However, it is amazing how much hard and committed work those who work in social care have put into the arrangements and how effective many of those arrangements have been. The numbers that she cites are really impressive. I cannot make the commitments that she asks of me right now, because the deal for social care workers has not been written, but I completely acknowledge the suggestions that she makes; those are very much on the wish list and the agenda for any social care reform when it happens.
My Lords, I echo the tribute paid by my noble friend to those working in social care during the pandemic. Naturally we have a huge amount of concern about those in social care during the pandemic. However, it is amazing how much hard and committed work those who work in social care have put into the arrangements and how effective many of those arrangements have been. The numbers that she cites are really impressive. I cannot make the commitments that she asks of me right now, because the deal for social care workers has not been written, but I completely acknowledge the suggestions that she makes; those are very much on the wish list and the agenda for any social care reform when it happens.
My Lords, the latest annual Care Quality Commission State of Care report shows that quality levels in adult social care have been maintained, with 84% of services rated as either good
or outstanding, up from 82% last year. Given the dedicated service of our care workers, will my noble friend the Minister update the House on whether a new deal for care workers will include action on pay, training and development, career progression and professionalism, as well as ensuring that those working in care are recognised in the same way as those working for the NHS?
My Lords, I am extremely grateful for the noble Lord’s recommendation. The project that he describes is incredibly interesting. I am not aware of it today, but I will definitely seek it out and try to find out more. I emphasise the broader point that the noble Lord is making: fresh thinking, digital innovation and the work of entrepreneurs to try to create new ways of working—to pool, for instance, the efforts of teams of people and to use platforms like the one that he describes—can make a massive difference in the area of social care. We are very supportive of digital entrepreneurs bringing fresh thinking to this important area of work.
My Lords, I am extremely grateful for the noble Lord’s recommendation. The project that he describes is incredibly interesting. I am not aware of it today, but I will definitely seek it out and try to find out more. I emphasise the broader point that the noble Lord is making: fresh thinking, digital innovation and the work of entrepreneurs to try to create new ways of working—to pool, for instance, the efforts of teams of people and to use platforms like the one that he describes—can make a massive difference in the area of social care. We are very supportive of digital entrepreneurs bringing fresh thinking to this important area of work.
My Lords, is the Minister familiar with the work of the Tribe Project? It was set up by a successful digital entrepreneur and is now being used by six local authorities to predict the needs for care, match people with carers, and, very importantly in this context, support professional carers in setting up independently as microenterprises. This reduces overheads and therefore both improves care income and reduces costs. Does he agree that this approach could be very useful in helping with this crisis, and will he explore it further?
My Lords, there is no doubt that we need more people to choose to work in social care. Prior to the pandemic, the vacancy rates for care workers in residential care and domiciliary care were 6.4% and 11.4% respectively. By June 2020, that had declined to an overall rate of 6.6%. We would like to see this number reduced further, which is why we are taking action to support recruitment nationally, and we expect local authorities to support care providers locally.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) doctor, and (2) nurse, shortfall in NHS hospitals in (1) January, (2) February, and (3) March; how those positions were filled; and who took on those roles.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) doctor, and (2) nurse, shortfall in NHS hospitals in (1) January, (2) February, and (3) March; how those positions were filled; and who took on those roles.
The Department does not hold the data requested.
The Government has pledged to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 in England by 2025. As part of this commitment, eligible pre-registration nursing students enrolled on courses at English universities from September 2020 will receive a payment of at least £5,000 per academic year which they will not need to pay back. There will be up to £3,000 additional funding for some students to support with childcare costs, students studying specialist subjects or students studying in areas struggling to recruit.
An additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places are being made available for domestic students in England - a 25% increase over three years by September 2020.
The interim NHS People Plan committed to re-balancing the supply of doctors across geographies and specialties. When the final NHS People Plan is published, scheduled to be later this year, it will explore options for growing the medical workforce.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of vacancies in the care sector resulting from COVID-19-related international travel restrictions; and the opportunities that this may provide people who will be made redundant during the pandemic.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of vacancies in the care sector resulting from COVID-19-related international travel restrictions; and the opportunities that this may provide people who will be made redundant during the pandemic.
We are working closely across Government with local authorities and providers to make sure the adult social care sector is prepared and able to respond to COVID-19. We know that the adult social care sector will need to recruit more people to ensure it can operate at maximum capacity, both to fill existing vacancies, but also to ensure there is sufficient cover for those in the workforce who will need to self-isolate because they are unwell, or who need to undertake more stringent social distancing measures because they are in a high risk group. We are planning to adapt our current national recruitment campaign ‘When you care, every day makes a difference’ for the current context, while continuing to highlight opportunities for career development and progression.
Expanding the mental health workforce, including psychiatry consultants, is an important priority for this Government. We are not complacent about the scale of this historic challenge. In particular, we are focused on driving forward work to improve recruitment in psychiatry, including working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists on its excellent Choose Psychiatry campaign. Our NHS interim plan has also set out a wide range of actions that we will take to reduce the number of vacancies and secure the staff we need for the future.
Expanding the mental health workforce, including psychiatry consultants, is an important priority for this Government. We are not complacent about the scale of this historic challenge. In particular, we are focused on driving forward work to improve recruitment in psychiatry, including working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists on its excellent Choose Psychiatry campaign. Our NHS interim plan has also set out a wide range of actions that we will take to reduce the number of vacancies and secure the staff we need for the future.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle the shortage of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom.
The Government recognise the issue with recruitment, in particular at the higher, consultant end, where it takes 14 years to train a consultant. There is undoubtedly an issue with filling all those places. The work of the noble Baroness on eating disorders is well known and the Government are very focused on that issue; in fact, we announced in 2014 that we would invest £150 million to expand community-based care for children and young people with eating disorders. Recruitment remains an issue that concerns us and we are focused on responding to it.
The Government recognise the issue with recruitment, in particular at the higher, consultant end, where it takes 14 years to train a consultant. There is undoubtedly an issue with filling all those places. The work of the noble Baroness on eating disorders is well known and the Government are very focused on that issue; in fact, we announced in 2014 that we would invest £150 million to expand community-based care for children and young people with eating disorders. Recruitment remains an issue that concerns us and we are focused on responding to it.
Vacancy rates for psychiatric posts have doubled in the past six years. Eating disorder services are particularly affected, contributing to lengthy waiting times for treatment, which can be life threatening given the mortality rates for anorexia. Will the Government agree to double the number of medical school places over the next 10 years to deliver more psychiatrists and better care for people suffering from eating disorders?
The noble Baroness is quite correct to suggest that the issues of psychiatry recruitment are complex. They are not simply a matter of funding; the Government have put a large amount of money behind mental health. It is not just a question of places—a large number of vacancies are available in psychiatry; it is one of the employer brand. The employer brand around psychiatry is not where we would like it to be, and safety is a difficult and challenging issue to address.
We are focused on that. The campaign by the Royal College of Psychiatry addresses this very issue, and we will continue to work on it.
The noble Baroness is quite correct to suggest that the issues of psychiatry recruitment are complex. They are not simply a matter of funding; the Government have put a large amount of money behind mental health. It is not just a question of places—a large number of vacancies are available in psychiatry; it is one of the employer brand. The employer brand around psychiatry is not where we would like it to be, and safety is a difficult and challenging issue to address.
We are focused on that. The campaign by the Royal College of Psychiatry addresses this very issue, and we will continue to work on it.
My Lords, in 2011, 70% of foundation doctors went on to specialty training, but in 2018 the figure was 40%. Does the Minister agree that in psychiatry, this may have something to do with concerns about working conditions, lack of support from specialist nurses and personal safety? I heard just last week of a young doctor who went to work in the evening wearing a stab vest because another trainee had been stabbed while on duty as a psychiatrist the previous week.