Nurses play a vital role across the National Health Service and wider health and care system, and the Department and NHS England are committed to ensuring newly qualified nurses can access meaningful employment opportunities after graduation.

NHS England is actively monitoring the position and proactively working with employers, universities, and system partners to improve access to vacancies, broaden opportunities across community, primary care, social care and independent sector settings, and provide practical support that helps newly registered nurses successfully transition into professional practice.

We recognise the vital role that learning disability nurses play in supporting people with a learning disability and reducing health inequalities.

To support recruitment, the Department provides eligible healthcare students with a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 per academic year via the NHS Learning Support Fund. Students undertaking priority specialisms, including learning disability nursing, can receive an additional incentive payment.

NHS England has also established a learning disability nurse expert group which aims to work with stakeholders to consider how we ensure sustainability of education programmes and attract people onto learning disability nursing and grow the workforce.

More widely, the Government is investing £65 million to deliver 2,000 additional nursing degree apprenticeships over the next three years. We will prioritise areas of greatest need and ensure that communities relying most on the National Health Service benefit from a stronger, more resilient workforce. The forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how we ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

No assessment has been made of admiral nurses in England, who are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation.

Provision of dementia health services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

No assessment has been made of admiral nurses in England, who are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation.

Provision of dementia health services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

The provision of dementia health care services, including specialist dementia nursing support, is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

Services for people with epilepsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) so the responsibility of services in Hampshire would sit with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.

We recognise the very important role that epilepsy specialist nurses play in providing care to people with epilepsy, in conducting ongoing reviews and medication monitoring, and in supporting self-management, thereby helping to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and improve quality of life.

The updated service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which NHS England published in August 2025, sets out that clinical nurse specialists can play a key case manager role for patients with long-term neurological conditions such as epilepsy.

The Government has already made progress in increasing the number of frontline staff, improving working conditions, and making the National Health Service a rewarding and fulfilling place to work. This is helping to ensure patients receive the timely care they need.

However, we must go further. The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will set out the action we will take to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

NHS England publishes monthly statistics showing the size and make up of staff employed in the National Health Service in England, and these include the number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors and nurses employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards grouped by the seven regional NHS areas. Further information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of populations resident in the seven NHS England regional areas. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/datasets/populationprojectionsforsubintegratedcareboardsbyfiveyearagegroupsandsexengland

The above information has been used to create the information in the following table which shows, for each of the seven NHS regions, the number of FTE doctors, nurses, and health visitors from which a ratio of nurses to doctors for different geographies can be calculated as well as a comparison of the ratio of the number of doctors and nurses per 10,000 population:

Sources: NHS Workforce Statistics, published by NHS England, and the Population projections for sub-integrated care boards by five-year age groups and sex, England, published by the Office for National Statistics.

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning services to best meet the needs of their local population, including determining how services are delivered locally to reduce the health inequalities. Therefore, staffing models may differ between areas to reflect local needs and existing provision. All staff within health and social care must have learning disability and autism training specific to their role as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, which means that staff who see patients should be better able to meet the needs of people who have a learning disability.

We are committed to ensuring that, under the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard 2025, all publicly funded health and social care service providers are able to share, read, and write reasonable adjustment data by 30 September 2026. The Information Standard is mandated across all publicly funded health and social care providers, commissioners, and IT suppliers. Should issues of non-compliance arise, commissioners of health and publicly funded social care services will be able to enact contractual sanctions at their discretion.

The Government continues to recognise the value of involving patients and family carers in decisions about the care of people with a learning disability. The Health and Care Act 2022 sets duties for involving carers in healthcare. Acute trusts are responsible for determining how best to involve family carers in the delivery of care, taking account of the needs of their patients and local circumstances. There are currently no plans to establish independent or statutory audits to monitor whether acute trusts are consistently involving family carers from admission to discharge. The Friends and Family Test is an important feedback tool that supports the fundamental principle that people who use National Health Services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience.

NHS England has previously published guidance to support primary care to identify people with a learning disability, titled Improving identification of people with a learning disability: guidance for general practice. This information can be shared with other health providers if a patient gives their permission. The Summary Care Record is a national database that holds electronic records of important patient information such as current medication, allergies, and details of any previous bad reactions to medicines, created from general practice medical records. It can be seen and used by authorised staff involved in the patient's direct care, including in other organisations such as an acute trust, with the patient’s consent. We expect acute hospitals to have appropriate arrangements in place to record learning disability information, including through the use of SNOMED codes, which are mandated for use across the NHS including in acute trusts.

The Department does not hold a central estimate of the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses employed in the National Health Service in England. Specialist Parkinson’s nurse posts are not recorded as a separate workforce category within national NHS workforce datasets, and decisions about the number and deployment of specialist nurses are made locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards to meet the needs of their populations. National workforce datasets therefore do not allow the Department to identify the number of nurses specialising in Parkinson’s disease.

The Government recognises the important role that specialist Parkinson’s nurses play in supporting people with Parkinson’s disease through personalised care, medicines management, and self-management support. NHS England's service specification for specialised adult neurology services and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance support access to healthcare professionals with expertise in Parkinson’s disease.

The metastatic breast cancer audit completed in 2025 highlighted several areas where the collection of data could be improved, and we are acting on these.

The Government has set out in the National Cancer Plan for England an ambition to define and count recurrent cancers, starting with metastatic breast cancer, from 2026.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) is working with National Health Service trusts to improve the completion of the sections of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set that cover disease progression, recurrence, and the metastatic spread of breast cancer.

Additionally, Oxford University academics, alongside the NDRS, have developed an algorithm which can infer metastatic disease for breast cancer patients diagnosed by combining data sources. This new tool will support inferring estimates of the numbers of patients living with metastatic breast cancer, increasing data completeness.

The National Cancer Plan commits to provide every patient with a clinical nurse specialist or other named lead to support them through diagnosis and treatment. We will create new opportunities to make it easier for newly qualified and experienced nurses to pursue careers in cancer nursing.

We will prioritise grants for clinical nurse specialists to target the areas of highest need and expand the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development programme to provide more training opportunities and career pathways for cancer nurses and cancer support staff. This will narrow inequalities and ensure that more patients across the country get the support they need.

We welcome the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death’s Learning Together, A review of the quality of care provided to adults with a learning disability when admitted to hospital acutely unwell report and we are committed to improving the health outcomes of people with a learning disability.

The Government’s approach, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, is to ensure a clear national framework for the National Health Service while empowering local systems to design and deliver services that best meet the needs of their populations. Within this approach, integrated care boards act as strategic commissioners to ensure care better meets patients’ needs at a local level. Decisions about the design of services are matters for independent NHS employing organisations, who manage service delivery at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care, based on population need. This includes investing in the future of their workforce and ensuring appropriate ongoing training and continuing professional development so that they can continue to provide safe and effective care.

We recognise the value of involving patients and family carers in decisions about the care of people with a learning disability. The NHS England website has information to support services, including acute trusts, with involving family carers of people with a learning disability and autistic people.

There are currently no plans to establish senior learning disability consultant roles based on the model in the Netherlands. NHS England published guidance in 2023, updated in 2025, to support frontline staff in acute hospitals caring for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

Under the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard 2025, all publicly funded health and social care service providers must be able to share, read, and write reasonable adjustment data by 30 September 2026. The Information Standard is mandated across all publicly funded health and social care providers, commissioners, and IT suppliers. As a mandatory information standard, compliance is supported through contractual and regulatory mechanisms.

Practice learning is intended to support student development, not to meet workforce pressures. Students are not employed to provide care, do not hold contracts of employment, and are therefore unpaid.

It is essential that students have the time and space to develop the skills and experience needed to graduate and join the professional register. These protections also ensure that students do not substitute for trained professionals delivering patient care.

DHSC provides eligible healthcare students with non‑repayable support through the NHS Learning Support Fund, including a £5,000 annual training grant and an additional £2,000 for those with childcare responsibilities, reviewed annually.

All students, including student nurses are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education regardless of family circumstances. Those undertaking paid work may access 30 hours if they meet income requirements.

Full-time students with dependent children may also access the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance, subject to household income.

Practice learning is intended to support student development, not to meet workforce pressures. Students are not employed to provide care, do not hold contracts of employment, and are therefore unpaid.

It is essential that students have the time and space to develop the skills and experience needed to graduate and join the professional register. These protections also ensure that students do not substitute for trained professionals delivering patient care.

DHSC provides eligible healthcare students with non‑repayable support through the NHS Learning Support Fund, including a £5,000 annual training grant and an additional £2,000 for those with childcare responsibilities, reviewed annually.

All students, including student nurses are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education regardless of family circumstances. Those undertaking paid work may access 30 hours if they meet income requirements.

Full-time students with dependent children may also access the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance, subject to household income.

No assessment has been made of the potential merits of regulating the role of maternity nurse. The Government intends to protect the professional title “nurse” through planned reforms to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s governing legislation. This will ensure that only those who hold registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a nurse, or otherwise meet a specific exemption, can legally call themselves a nurse. A call for evidence, seeking views on how the title “nurse” should be protected, is expected to be published shortly.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that healthcare professionals are appropriately trained to identify and manage epilepsy.

General practitioners and nurses receive training in neurological conditions, including epilepsy, as part of their undergraduate education and continuing professional development (CPD). Individual healthcare professionals are responsible for maintaining their own CPD to ensure their knowledge and skills remain up to date, in line with professional standards set by their regulatory bodies.

Through its e-learning for healthcare platform, NHS England offers free, evidence-based epilepsy training packages designed for health and care professionals. These modules focus on raising awareness, improving primary care management, and supporting children, young people, and adults living with the condition. Professional bodies and charities, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners and epilepsy-focused organisations, also provide additional training and resources to support clinicians in improving their knowledge and skills in this area.

Guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also plays a key role in raising awareness and supporting education among health professionals by providing clear, evidence‑based recommendations on the diagnosis and management of epilepsy. It brings together the latest clinical evidence and expert consensus in a single, accessible resource, helping general practitioners, nurses, and other clinicians to recognise symptoms more quickly, understand best practice in treatment and referral, and deliver more consistent care.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services that meet local population needs, including ensuring that staff have the appropriate training and expertise. Through national programmes such as Getting It Right First Time, NHS England is also supporting systems to improve pathways, share best practice, and ensure that people with epilepsy can access timely, specialist care.

Together, these actions aim to strengthen the workforce, improve access to specialist expertise, and deliver better outcomes for people living with epilepsy.

Decisions on recruitment and employment are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts, which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The Government wants every child to have the best start in life, with help available earlier and locally when families need it. As set out in the King’s Speech, the Government is committed to raising standards in schools and introducing generational reform to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. These reforms will be brought forward in legislation through the upcoming Education for All Bill.

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have worked closely with the Department for Education on the reforms. Continued close partnership between health, social care, and education will be needed to realise the opportunity created by these crucial reforms.

To supplement the student loans which are the main support for all students in England, the Department of Health and Social Care provides eligible healthcare students with a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 per academic year via the NHS Learning Support Fund. Students undertaking priority specialisms such as mental health nursing and learning disability nursing can receive an additional incentive payment.

The Government is also investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce to support children and young people with SEND, including learning disability. This includes £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million to enable more speech and language therapists to work in education settings.

We will not pre-empt the publication of the plan which will be published shortly and will set out how the National Health Service workforce will be put on a sustainable footing so it can deliver the service model set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan will not simply be a numbers exercise, it will focus on skills, deployment, and productivity, enabling the delivery of better care for patients and better jobs for staff.

We are improving workforce planning to align job vacancies with the anticipated supply of graduating students through a student movement dashboard enabling regional NHS England teams, universities, and employers to understand where future vacancies will arise and signpost newly graduated students towards these roles.