Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Health Education England’s target to train 400 clinical endoscopists by 2021, whether his Department is making additional funding available to support hospitals with the backfill and supervision costs required to enable trainees to receive the release time required to participate in the training programme.

The latest information from Health Education England (HEE) shows that, to date, 130 trainees have been recruited on to HEE’s national training programme to train as clinical endoscopists. Those recruited will be trained to undertake procedures in either upper gastrointestinal endoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy.

It is for local trusts to determine, based on local service need and clinical case mix, how many procedures are undertaken by trained clinical endoscopists.

Salary support is not offered as standard by HEE for the clinical endoscopist training programme.