HC Deb 04 July 2002 vol 388 cc386-7
9. Dr. Evan Harris (Oxford, West and Abingdon)

What assessment she has made of the impact of redundancies of medical academics in London medical schools on the training of medical students. [64404]

The Minister for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education (Margaret Hodge)

The additional costs of training new medical students were fully taken into account at the last spending review. Staffing levels at medical schools in London and elsewhere are for each institution to determine in the light of its operational needs and circumstances.

Dr. Harris

At a time when we are seeking to increase the number of medical students being trained, does the Minister understand the concern about the fact that hundreds of medical academics responsible for carrying out the training are losing their jobs? It seems to people on the ground that, when there is good news to announce, the Government cover themselves in glory and centralise praise, but when it comes to redundancies in institutions that are almost 100 per cent. funded by the Minister's Department and the Government, she says "It is nothing to do with us, guv." Is that not too much delegation of blame? How will we look after the interests of the medical students and consultants of the future?

Margaret Hodge

The hon. Gentleman is a member of a party that believes in the delegation of responsibility and devolution, so I am absolutely amazed by his view that there should be central control over the number of staff in each institution. He should be very careful not to muddle certain facts. Mergers, especially between London hospitals, have led to changes in staffing structures. Those changes have been made by local decision makers and local managers. Changes have also been made to the amount of money that hospitals and universities have received out of the research assessment exercise to cover the cost of training medical students—some have gained, and some have lost. For example, St George's hospital in London had a 48 per cent. increase—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Perhaps the Minister could write to the hon. Gentleman about St George's hospital.

Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield)

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is serious concern in teaching hospitals throughout the country following the generous increase in pay to consultants in the health sector? Many people in the teaching profession would be very pleased to receive such an increase, with very little reform to the delivery of service. However, there is an important knock-on effect, because many leading people in our medical schools say that they will not be able to recruit senior staff as a result of the pay increase for consultants.

Margaret Hodge

I am discussing this issue with my colleagues in the Department of Health. Under the new consultants' contract, we must ensure that staff will be available to deal with patients, and that staff will be available to train the new consultants whom we require to expand services in the national health service.