§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to implement the recommendations of the Reforming Emergency Care document in respect of addressing the recruitment and retention difficulties in accident and emergency departments. [79266]
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§ Ms BlearsReforming Emergency Care recommended breaking down over rigid demarcation barriers to enable more flexible ways of working throughout National Health Service emergency care provision. This included separating patients into "streams" according to need and enabling nurse practitioners to take a much greater role in dealing with patients. Central investment of £40 million has already enabled the recruitment of 600 additional accident and emergency (A&E) nurses to support the separation of services for patients with minor injuries or illness from those with more serious conditions.
The access care group workforce team has been set up to take forward the recommendations of Reforming Emergency Care on workforce planning and development to help ensure for the longer term we have the right number of staff, with the right skills, in the right place.