Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the number of additional (a) doctors and (b) nurses that will be needed to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England (HEE) was established and has been mandated by the Government to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. As one of the arm’s length bodies to help improve the quality of care delivered to patients, it ensures that the future workforce is available in the right numbers with the right skills, values and competencies to meet patient needs today and tomorrow.

HEE operate a comprehensive planning process to ensure their investments meet the future needs of the population. The period they consider is dependent on the ‘lead in’ time for training. They do not extend these forecasts to a 25 year time horizon. However, HEE has published itsStrategic Framework (‘Framework 15’) focussing on the needs of future patients and the kind of workforce that will be required. This is available at:

https://hee.nhs.uk/2014/06/03/framework-15-health-education-england-strategic-framework-2014-29/

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