Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of the bottleneck between medical foundation training and medical specialty training (1) in anaesthesia, and (2) across all other medical specialties; and what steps they are taking to address it.

We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.

As of July 2024, there were 14,085 full time equivalent (FTE) anaesthetists working in the National Health Service and other core organisations in England. This is 407, or 3.0%, more than a year ago and 1,950, or 16.1%, more than five years ago. This includes 7,492 FTE consultants, which is 278, or 3.9%, more than a year ago and 886, or 13.4%, more than five years ago.

We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the NHS. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the NHS in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where the need is greatest.