Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of neurologists.

The latest Hospital and Community Health Services monthly workforce statistics, published by NHS Digital, show that as at 31 July 2016 there were 269 more neurologists in the National Health Service in England than there were in May 2010. This includes almost 200 more consultant neurologists and 70 more doctors training in neurology.

As the national body for education and training, Health Education England (HEE) provides national leadership for and co-ordinates workforce planning and education commissioning activity to ensure that sufficient numbers of skilled workers are available in England for the NHS. HEE reports that the numbers currently undertaking neurology training are sufficient to ensure the consultant workforce supply continues to grow at current rates over the next five years.