Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mandatory training is provided for (a) the NHS workforce and (b) healthcare professionals working in oncology to deliver mental health assessments for people with cancer.

National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring that the staff they employ are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients. Individual trusts must decide what specific mandatory training they deem appropriate for their employees.

Training programmes for healthcare professionals must meet the standards set by the regulatory body for their profession. Training curricula for doctors emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. While medical and other clinical curricula equip healthcare professionals with the skills necessary to consider a patient’s mental health during treatment, individual trusts are responsible for mandating training for their employees and setting appropriate policies for assessing and treating patients.