Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total number of resident surgeons is in (a) England (b) Wales (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in surgical specialty group roles by grade in the National Health Service in England, as of November 2024:
Grade | FTE doctors |
Consultant surgeons | 11,203 |
Specialty and associate specialist surgeons | 2,832 |
Resident doctors with a core and specialty training level in a surgical specialty group | 11,228 |
Resident doctors with foundation years on placements in surgical specialties | 4,292 |
Source: Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics, NHS England.
Healthcare in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland is a devolved responsibility and so the Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total number of trainee surgeons is in (a) England (b) Wales (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in surgical specialty group roles by grade in the National Health Service in England, as of November 2024:
Grade | FTE doctors |
Consultant surgeons | 11,203 |
Specialty and associate specialist surgeons | 2,832 |
Resident doctors with a core and specialty training level in a surgical specialty group | 11,228 |
Resident doctors with foundation years on placements in surgical specialties | 4,292 |
Source: Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics, NHS England.
Healthcare in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland is a devolved responsibility and so the Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the working conditions for trainee surgeons.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that doctors trained in the United Kingdom remain within the National Health Service through a structured, data-driven approach to workforce retention, and to improving the working conditions of all resident doctors, including trainee surgeons.
NHS England’s Enhancing Resident Doctors Working Lives programme continues to implement several measures aimed at supporting resident doctors, encouraging them to stay in training and the NHS, and reducing overall attrition. In addition, the NHS National Retention Programme is actively improving working conditions for trainee surgeons by enhancing workplace culture, promoting flexible training, and reducing burnout and attrition.
On 18 February 2025, the Chief Medical Officer and the National Medical Director of NHS England jointly launched a review of postgraduate medical training. The review will cover placement options, the flexibility of training, difficulties with rotas, control and autonomy in training, and the balance between developing specialist knowledge and gaining a broad range of skills.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of clinical academics in the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that clinical academics are crucial to training future generations of healthcare professionals and leading research across the health and care system. In 2023, NHS England published an Educator Workforce Strategy, setting out the actions required to ensure the sufficient capacity and quality of clinical educators. This includes planning for career pathways, both in practice and in higher education institutions and across sectors and professions.
Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department is the largest funder of research training for clinical academics in the United Kingdom, supporting clinical academics at all career stages and from all professions and specialties. Since 2006, the NIHR has supported 16,000 career development awards and 13,000 awardees across 200 different professions and specialties. We are committed to working with the devolved administrations, other funders, and wider stakeholders to ensure there is a comprehensive, clear, and rewarding career pathway for clinical academics in research, addressing issues raised in the report, Clinical researchers in the UK: reversing the decline to improve population health and promote economic growth.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the 7.5% cap on international student numbers at medical and dental schools in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no such plans. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, to treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to engage with universities as part of the 10-year Health Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Universities across England and the United Kingdom have been engaged throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement process to inform policy making. Everyone, including universities, continues to be able to share their views via the Change NHS portal in what is biggest conversation to fix the National Health Service since its creation.
36 universities and university faculties in the UK have submitted organisational responses, which have now been analysed and used to inform the next stage of the Plan’s development. Universities UK are also represented at the Partner’s Council. The Council convenes over 150 leaders from organisations across the UK health and care sector, including charities and the Royal Colleges, to provide progress updates on the 10-Year Health Plan and a forum to discuss and comment on emerging themes from the engagement and policy development to date.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the number of people waiting for medical training between foundation level and speciality training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We continue to work with NHS England to keep the selection process for all applicants to medical speciality training under review.
We are committed to ensuring that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide more training places in (a) core anaesthetics and (b) across all medical specialties.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has invested in 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of making 70 extra higher anaesthetic training places available every year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has invested in 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to NHS England of treating complications arising from surgeries undertaken overseas by UK residents.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not have data on the overall costs to the National Health Service for treating complications from surgeries conducted overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding of the scale of the cost to the NHS.