Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with bodies responsible for medical training on the broadening of the GP training curriculum to ensure there is a workforce development strategy for healthcare professionals within the field of musculoskeletal disorders.

The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

Health Education England (HEE) will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of general practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

In addition, HEE has established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission which is chaired by Professor Martin Roland of University of Cambridge. The Commission will identify models of primary care that will meet the needs of the future National Health Service including greater emphasis on community, primary and integrated services. It will focus on patient and population need; emerging models of care to respond to the population need; and maximising new skill sets and education and training.