Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Physicians’ 2020 census which found 44 per cent of advertised consultant posts were unfilled in the North West, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the number of medical school places in England.

We have funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places each year for domestic students in England – a 25% increase over three years. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and has delivered five new medical schools in England, including one in Lancashire. We have temporarily lifted the cap on medical school places for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and 2021 and who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to their grades. We currently have no immediate plans to further increase the number of places.