Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2018 to Question 183515 on Eating Disorders, whether his Department is taking steps to seek to ensure that thereis an increase in the number of training ours undertaken on eating disorders under the medical school curricula.

Health Education England (HEE) is working closely with NHS England to better understand the current provision of eating disorder services and identify interventions to increase education and training in eating disorders. It is also the role of National Health Service trusts as employers to ensure they have sufficient staff with the right skills to care for their patients.

Subject to the outcome of this work, HEE would seek to influence the General Medical Council, medical schools and Royal Colleges in discharging their responsibilities for curricula or post registration training and qualifications in ensuring the NHS has available the workforce the NHS requires. HEE takes account of prevalence and proportionality to the prevalence of diseases when planning its approach to these bodies with regard to the focus on specific conditions.