Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Medical Students: University Places

Tuesday 6 December 2022 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan to ensure the right number of skilled doctors.
  • Record numbers of students are entering general practice, aiming to make it more attractive through cloud-based telephony and practice improvement.
  • A comprehensive workforce strategy will be published soon, independently verified, addressing current shortages and new pension flexibilities.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Michael Fabricant Con
NHS Education
Context

The question arises from discussions on increasing university places for medical students to address the shortage of healthcare professionals.

Question

What recent discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for Education on increasing the number of university places for medical students, and will he make a statement?

Answer from Will Quince

The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. That plan will help to ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, including doctors with the right skills, to deliver high-quality services fit for the future. The plan will be independently verified. We have funded 1,500 more medical school places in England and opened five new medical schools in Sunderland, Lancashire, Chelmsford, Lincoln and Canterbury.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The question specifically asked about discussions with the Secretary of State for Education, but the answer did not address this point.

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Q2 Michael Fabricant Con
NHS
Context

The question focuses on strategies to encourage new medical graduates to work as hospital doctors, particularly in the context of improving general practice.

Question

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. He will know that it takes five or six gruelling years to get a Bachelor of Medicine or a Bachelor of Surgery degree—but many students, having graduated, think that they would prefer more structured development by working as hospital doctors. What can we do to encourage young graduates to go into general practice?

Answer from Will Quince

We have record numbers going into general practice, which is the remit of the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O'Brien), but part of the plan is to make it more attractive through practice improvement through cloud-based telephony, the additional roles reimbursement scheme, the 24,000 extra staff in primary care, developing multi-function staff so that people can develop their skills and have specialism but still practise as a GP, increasing the use of pharmacy, moving towards more continuity of care and the new GP contract for 2024-25.

Answered
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Q3 Chris Bryant Lab Rhondda and Ogmore
NHS
Context

The question arises from a concern about the shortage of radiologists, dermatologists, pathologists, and histopathologists in the NHS. The speaker mentions specific incidents like one department having only five out of 15 required radiologists.

Question

But when are we going to see the workforce plan? I spoke to a radiologist who runs a radiology department with meant-to-have 15 but currently has five staff, and no applications have been received. There is a shortage of dermatologists leading to undetected skin cancers, and shortages in other areas such as pathology and histopathology.

Answer from Will Quince

As I said, we have committed to publishing a comprehensive workforce strategy which, as the Chancellor set out, will be independently verified. That will come soon. We also set out new pension flexibilities and note that there are 29,000 more nurses compared with last year, and we are on track to meet our 50,000 target.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific details about the shortage of radiologists, dermatologists, pathologists and histopathologists were not addressed in depth.

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