Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide diagnostic training for GPs to recognise the symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum.

We recognise that hyperemesis gravidarum is a debilitating condition that can have a devastating impact on women and their families.

The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC 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.

The curriculum for general practice (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and must meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them. The curriculum emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners Examination. The RCGP GP training curriculum includes “emesis” as a symptom of concern during pregnancy.

Qualified GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs across their whole scope of practice, as part of their continuing professional development and professional evaluation by the GMC.