Medical Student Places
Debate between Lord Naseby and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for that question. I do not have a formula in my briefing pack, but I will ask that question and refer the answer back to the noble Lord. I would also point out not to believe everything that you read in the Guardian.
Lord Naseby (Con)
Is my noble friend aware that, out of every three sixth formers who wish to become a doctor, only one will find a medical school place? Is that not a tragic loss, at a time when we are really short of doctors? At the other end of the spectrum, we also know that the number of doctors who work in the NHS once qualified is going down. Against that background, surely, we should have another look at our forecasts and the provision we make for more medical school places.
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
In my initial Answer, I pointed out that the Government are increasing the number of medical school places, but he raises an important point. If he has any specific cases of students not getting a place and lets me know about them, I will look into them.
NHS: General Medical Practitioners
Debate between Lord Naseby and Lord Evans of Rainow(1 year ago)
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Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice workforce in England but, as the population grows, with the amount of building that goes on throughout the country, it is the responsibility of local authorities. There are two ways to do this: they can apply for capital funding for new GP practices; or they can apply through Section 106 agreements through local authorities. It is for the regions and for local authorities to plan ahead on that front.
Lord Naseby (Con)
Has not the time come for every new medical student to contract that they will, on qualification, work for perhaps five years in the NHS, similar to the existing contract for men and women in the Armed Forces who are medical practitioners, and perhaps modelled also on the Singapore scheme?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
I am grateful to my noble friend. I am aware of the Armed Forces scheme—that if you train as a pilot, for example, you cannot leave the Royal Air Force to become an airline pilot. It is not the first time that this question has been asked, and I will feed it back to the department.
Dementia Diagnosis
Debate between Lord Naseby and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The noble Baroness is exactly right. She raises a point about carers. Carers are not professional people; they are loving partners who vary in their experience and knowledge of this disease. I do not have a specific answer to her question other than to say that, generally, carers are far more recognised than they used to be and do a fantastic job. In fact, we would not be able to look after those 600,000 people in the country without those individual carers. I will write to her with a more specific answer, but she is absolutely right that carers are key to the care of people with dementia.
Lord Naseby (Con)
Is not the key word “timely”? In relation to that word, is it not time that the junior doctors throughout the United Kingdom recognised that timeliness in relation to many conditions is being jeopardised, so long as they continue to go on strike week after week? Should they not recognise the Hippocratic oath that they took in the first place to do no harm to their patients?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
My noble friend raises a very important point. It is important that junior doctors and others come to some agreement and do not continue with their strikes. I understand that there are strong feelings on all sides, but we all have to work together—carers and healthcare professionals—to do what we can for people suffering from this dreadful disease.