Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure that medical trainees receive specialist practical training to treat people with sickle cell disease in (a) London and (b) the South East.

Each medical school sets its own undergraduate curriculum, which must meet the standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC) in its Outcomes for Graduates. The GMC would expect that, in fulfilling these standards, newly qualified doctors are able to identify, treat and manage any care needed, including relating to sickle cell disease.

Recent improvements have also been made to the postgraduate haematology medical curriculum, with understanding sickle cell disease and thalassemia now described in the curriculum as core competencies.

Additional training is also available for medical trainees across England, including London and the South East, to receive specialist training to treat people with sickle cell disease. This includes an e-learning programme delivered by Health Education England which has specific courses such as the NHS Screening Programme and includes the sickle cell and thalassaemia Screening Programme.