Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nursing associates were employed by the NHS in England in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the numb
Answer
Data on the workforce employed in NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England, including information on the number of nursing associates, is published at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics As we said in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan as well as a new long term professional strategy for nursing and midwifery, and further details on both will be set out to the House in due course.
Verdict: RED (22/100) DEFERRED
The reply only partly answered the question. It pointed to an NHS Workforce Statistics publication that contains nursing associate figures, but it did not set out the ten years of numbers requested. On the second part, about how these trends affect departmental policy, it gave no assessment and deferred the answer to a future Workforce Plan and nursing strategy with no firm date. A member of the public would likely need to follow up for the figures and for a substantive answer on policy.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many nursing associates were employed by the NHS in England in each of the last 10 years. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply points to the NHS Workforce Statistics publication, which does include nursing associate numbers, but it does not itself give the ten years of figures requested, so the item is only pointed to rather than answered. |
| What is the department's assessment or view of the potential implications for its policies of trends in the number of nursing associates employed. | Deferred | Hedged | The reply gives no assessment of how nursing associate trends affect departmental policy and instead defers the substantive answer to a forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan and nursing and midwifery strategy whose details will be set out 'in due course'. |