Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists were employed by the NHS in (a) each region of England and (b) each integrated care system area in each of the last five years.

Most medical speciality training posts are commissioned centrally, and tariff funded, but some training posts are commissioned and funded by individual trusts as part of this recruitment process.

The table attached shows the number of higher speciality child and adolescent psychiatry commissioned posts for 2021/2022 to 2023/2024. It also shows a) the number of all full-time equivalent doctors and b) the number of consultants, working in the speciality of child and adolescent psychiatry in National Health Service provider trusts and core organisations by NHS England region and Integrated Care System for February 2019 to February 2023.

The additional posts in the years after 2021/2022 are part of the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan. There are a further 15 posts (bringing the number of commissioned posts to a total of 277) planned for 2024/25 which have not yet been allocated to regions.

The Department does not hold the data for the years before 2021/22, nor does it hold information on the planned number of posts for years beyond 2024/2025.