Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national training centre for robotic surgery within the NHS to provide surgical training that is independent of the manufacturers of robotic surgery equipment.

The Department has no current plans to establish such a national training centre. The Department continues to work with the National Health Service and other partners to develop pathways for delivering innovative medical technology into the hands of front-line clinicians.

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