Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure that doctors in training are recruited to the first year of core training posts for August 2020.

The majority of core level and specialty trainee level 1 (ST1) recruitment was completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic with offers being released to successful applicants in early March 2020. For specialties with vacancies remaining, contingency processes have been put in place to ensure that applicants can be ranked and selected without face to face interview. Health Education England (HEE) has confirmed that offers for these posts will be released by no later than 26 May 2020.

HEE has also confirmed that alternative selection processes have been adopted to ensure that higher training posts in all specialties can be appointed to in time for August 2020.