Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients have timely and direct access to (a) gastroenterologists and (b) other specialist clinicians.

Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for workforce planning and education commissioning activity to ensure that the National Health Service in England has available a future workforce in the right numbers, with the right skills, values and behaviours.

In December 2014, HEE published its second national Workforce Plan for England for the period 2015/16 which is built upon the needs of local employers, commissioners and other stakeholders. The priorities in the plan are the priorities of the NHS, identified locally and nationally by employers, professional bodies and other stakeholders.

National recruitment into gastroenterology training posts in 2013 and 2014 achieved 100% fill-rate. There have been no reductions in the planned commissions of gastroenterologists for 2015/16.

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent doctors and gastroenterologists, excluding locums, working in hospital and community health services in England.

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Monthly Workforce Statistics, Nov 2014