Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisations are consulted in advance of decisions taken on how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses will be trained each year.

It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including doctors and nurses, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.

The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the 13 local plans.

The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders.