Mental Health Act Reform

Baroness Merron Excerpts
Thursday 26th January 2023

(1 year, 3 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Merron Portrait Baroness Merron (Lab)
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I congratulate the Joint Committee on its excellent work and refer to a report in the Times yesterday that the Government have written to universities to ask them to limit the number of medical school places they offer or risk fines. Can the Minister shed any light on what I regard as a baffling move? Can he explain to the House how the Government will address the concerns of the Joint Committee about getting the right workforce in place if they are planning to reduce the number of doctors in training?

Lord Markham Portrait Lord Markham (Con)
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Again, I agree that workforce is key to this. I am not aware of the report; I will look it up. I am somewhat surprised, because I know that we all accept that we need to invest in this space to recruit doctors, nurses and mental health professionals.