Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical professionals from overseas are waiting to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board test as of 19 May 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom which sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to. The GMC is responsible for operational matters, including investigating complaints received about medical professionals and the administration of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) tests.
The GMC has advised that the percentage of non-UK qualified doctors obtaining registration using the PLAB pathway was 42% in 2019; 40% in 2020; and 40% in 2021. The information on the number of overseas medical professionals is not held in the format requested. However, the attached table shows the number of failed sittings of part one and part two of the PLAB test by medical professionals from overseas in each of the last five years, by country of where the primary medical qualification was obtained.
As of 20 May 2022, there are 10,741 doctors with a current booking to sit the PLAB1 and 7,831 doctors with a PLAB2 exam place.
The GMC has advised that the information on the number of complaints resolved within six months is not available in the format requested. The GMC's internal target is for complaints to be resolved within 12 months. Of the complaints the GMC received in 2018 which did not meet the GMC’s internal 12-month closure target, 370 or 4.3% related to doctors with a non-UK primary medical qualification. Of complaints received in 2019, this was 460 or 5.2% and 354 or 4.2% in 2020. This includes all potential outcomes of a complaint – from closure at triage if the complaint did not meet the threshold for investigation, to full investigation with an outcome at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical professionals from overseas have failed (a) part one and (a) part two of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board test in each of the last five years, by country of origin.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom which sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to. The GMC is responsible for operational matters, including investigating complaints received about medical professionals and the administration of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) tests.
The GMC has advised that the percentage of non-UK qualified doctors obtaining registration using the PLAB pathway was 42% in 2019; 40% in 2020; and 40% in 2021. The information on the number of overseas medical professionals is not held in the format requested. However, the attached table shows the number of failed sittings of part one and part two of the PLAB test by medical professionals from overseas in each of the last five years, by country of where the primary medical qualification was obtained.
As of 20 May 2022, there are 10,741 doctors with a current booking to sit the PLAB1 and 7,831 doctors with a PLAB2 exam place.
The GMC has advised that the information on the number of complaints resolved within six months is not available in the format requested. The GMC's internal target is for complaints to be resolved within 12 months. Of the complaints the GMC received in 2018 which did not meet the GMC’s internal 12-month closure target, 370 or 4.3% related to doctors with a non-UK primary medical qualification. Of complaints received in 2019, this was 460 or 5.2% and 354 or 4.2% in 2020. This includes all potential outcomes of a complaint – from closure at triage if the complaint did not meet the threshold for investigation, to full investigation with an outcome at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of medical professionals from overseas seeking employment in the UK have taken the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board test in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom which sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to. The GMC is responsible for operational matters, including investigating complaints received about medical professionals and the administration of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) tests.
The GMC has advised that the percentage of non-UK qualified doctors obtaining registration using the PLAB pathway was 42% in 2019; 40% in 2020; and 40% in 2021. The information on the number of overseas medical professionals is not held in the format requested. However, the attached table shows the number of failed sittings of part one and part two of the PLAB test by medical professionals from overseas in each of the last five years, by country of where the primary medical qualification was obtained.
As of 20 May 2022, there are 10,741 doctors with a current booking to sit the PLAB1 and 7,831 doctors with a PLAB2 exam place.
The GMC has advised that the information on the number of complaints resolved within six months is not available in the format requested. The GMC's internal target is for complaints to be resolved within 12 months. Of the complaints the GMC received in 2018 which did not meet the GMC’s internal 12-month closure target, 370 or 4.3% related to doctors with a non-UK primary medical qualification. Of complaints received in 2019, this was 460 or 5.2% and 354 or 4.2% in 2020. This includes all potential outcomes of a complaint – from closure at triage if the complaint did not meet the threshold for investigation, to full investigation with an outcome at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The departmental group includes 25 arm’s length bodies, 135 clinical commissioning groups and 219 National Health Service providers. Each legal entity within the group discloses the losses and special payments within its annual report and accounts. The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts includes the consolidated number and total value of losses and special payments for the entire departmental group.
The Department does not collect details relating to all losses and special payments below £300,000 from its underlying group bodies, therefore this information is not available for the departmental group. The Department’s losses and special payments from 2018/19 to 2020/21 is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Throughout the pandemic, the Department has followed the Government’s guidance in setting out its internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces, along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19.
On 21 February 2022, the Government published their COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. The Government’s guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance.
The Government’s Working Safely guidance, which was revised on 24 February 2022, continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly. There is no mandation for Departmental colleagues to wear masks in offices.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to end requirements for mandatory covid-19 vaccination for care workers and NHS staff.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Secretary of State announced on the 31 January that the Government intends to revoke the regulations making vaccination a condition of deployment in health and social care, subject to consultation.
We have today published the Government’s response to the consultation undertaken. This confirms that we will revoke the vaccination as a condition of deployment requirements.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the funding for research into tinnitus.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The NIHR’s support for tinnitus research was over £1.5 million between 2016/17 and 2021/22. This included funding for research projects and funding for NIHR managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in NIHR’s Manchester, University College London and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.