Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to include training on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood in medical professional training at all levels.

The standard of training for doctors is set by the General Medical Council (GMC) and training programmes must meet these standards. The GMC also approve higher education institutions to develop and teach the curricula content which is designed to enable students to meet the desired standards. The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are set by individual royal colleges and faculties, and the GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all emphasise the skills and approaches a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

The Government has no plans to provide additional funding for this specific purpose, funding for medical education and training is included within NHS England’s budget and it will be a decision for them on how they prioritise their resources.