Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on the long-term use of locum consultants to run dermatology services in England.

The Department expects National Health Service organisations to have a strong grip on their workforce planning and management across all their specialties including dermatology, making permanent appointments to consultant posts wherever possible. Via Monitor, the NHS Trust Development Authority and the Care Quality Commission, the Department is working with the NHS to reduce trusts’ reliance on temporary staffing including the long term use of locum consultants.