Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to use (a) robots and (b) AI to help support training on innovative surgical techniques.

The Department and NHS England support the development and use of innovative surgical approaches across the system, where clinically appropriate. Use of such innovative approaches can drive efficiency and improve patient outcomes, but should and will be driven by local and specific need.

The curricula and method of delivery of surgical specialty training is set by the Royal College of Surgeons. The General Medical Council approves the curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.