Statement on NHS reforms

At the Statement on reforms to the NHS on Thursday 16 July 2015 I asked the Secretary of State for Health a question.

I asked: “The Secretary of State has not outlined what steps should be taken to recruit, train and retain front-line staff who are key to patient safety.”

The Secretary of State responded: “We have big plans to recruit and retain staff, and those are being worked up by Health Education England. We think that we will need extra doctors to deliver seven-day care, just as we will need more GPs. We think we can afford that within the extra £10 billion that we are putting into the NHS, and we are ensuring that all the numbers add up. I am sure that I will inform the House once we have come to a conclusion.”

“The Secretary of State needs to act quickly to ensure there are adequate staff at save levels in hospitals and in other parts of the NHS. The Bill fro Agency staff is far too high and we are losing well trained NHS staff abroad. There is a recognition that the Secretary of State cannot introduce seven day care without more doctors. He cannot expect the same number of staff to cover extra posts. ”