Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of places for medical students to undertake training in GP practices.

Health Education England (HEE) is the special health authority established by the Government to promote high quality education and training for the current and future National Health Service workforce backed by a near £5 billion annual budget.

HEE have advised that responsibility for the development and organisation of placements for undergraduate medical students rests with individual medical schools, including those placements in GP practices. These are all negotiated locally to ensure high quality education programmes. HEE supports moves to increase opportunities for more students and trainees to obtain experience in GP practices.

Additionally, HEE has been mandated to ensure that 50% of trainees completing foundation level training enter GP training programmes by 2016.