Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the planned NHS doctor apprenticeship scheme on health inequalities.

The medical degree apprentices will undertake the same General Medical Council approved training gaining skills and knowledge in a broad based training curriculum including health inequality. Medical degree apprentices will typically be recruited from their local areas making the medical workforce more representative of local communities and supporting local recruitment and retention in under-doctored areas. This in turn will support the improvement in health inequalities in local populations.