Work of the Department

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay will be questioned by the Committee over mounting issues facing the NHS and social care. Top of the agenda, uncertainty over the publication date of the government’s Workforce Plan. MPs have repeatedly called for the plan’s publication, promised in Spring last year, to tackle the workforce crisis across the sector. Questions are also likely to focus on industrial action by the BMA and the RCN, funding for the agreed Agenda for Change pay settlement and Government plans to make it easier for people to access GP services. Other pressing issues include the scale of the backlog and waiting times, particularly on mental health, and social care with challenges on workforce pay, recruitment and retention.