Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to facilitate NHS staff volunteering overseas to assist with the strengthening of health systems in least developed countries.

In 2014 DFID, with the Department of Health and the National Health Service (NHS), produced the Framework for Voluntary Engagement in Global Health to explain to health sector organisations how they can most effectively support volunteers engaged in health work in developing countries. As part of its support for volunteering, DFID is providing £30 million from 2011 to 2017 for the Health Partnerships Scheme which uses the skills of UK health professionals to train, mentor and coach their developing country counterparts in their home countries. DFID also provides support to the non-governmental organisations VSO and UK-Med which facilitate skilled health professionals volunteering overseas.