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 increasing the number of funded training places for doctors to specialise in anaesthesia.

NHS England has funded 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.

We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England and the Department will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where the need is greatest.

To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision.  We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.