Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding of the most recent Royal College of Anaesthetists census that 39 per cent of consultant anaesthetists are aged over 50, what plans his Department has to (a) train and (b) recruit NHS anaesthetists.

In England, training programmes for anaesthetics had over two applicants per place this year, at both core and specialty training level. There are over 63% more anaesthetic trainees in core programmes since 2010. The anaesthetic workforce overall has increased by almost 23% since 2010, with a 30% increase in the number of consultants.

Health Education England are also supporting the Royal College of Anaesthetists to develop their new anaesthetics curriculum, due to launch in 2021 pending General Medical Council approval. This would see the length of the programme reduced from eight years to seven years, which would more quickly generate a supply of consultant-level anaesthetists.