Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to train specialist staff in the timely (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of cancer.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published by NHS England on 30 June 2023 sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.

The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for the cancer workforce. The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country.

There are more doctors working in clinical oncology and more radiology doctors. As of October 2023, there are almost 1,700 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working on clinical oncology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 5.2% more than last year, and 62.4% more than in 2010. Additionally, there are over 5,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical radiology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 300 5.7% more than last year, and 66.8% more than in 2010.

In 2023/24, NHS England is investing an additional £50 million to expand cancer and diagnostics specialists. On 10 January 2023, Health Education England announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.