§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of NHS
All NHS Doctors by country of qualification England at 30 September 20011 number (headcount) All countries of qualification United Kingdom Rest of EEA Elsewhere All Doctors of which 100,320 69,950 4,870 25,500 GPs2 31,840 26,000 1,250 4,580 Notes:
1 2001 is the most recent data available which details all NHS doctors.
2 All Practitioners includes GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (para 52 SFA), PMS Other and GP Retainers.
3 HCHS shows Hospital, Public Health medicine and Community Health Services (HCHS) staff excluding medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are also GPs working part time in hospitals.
Figures are rounded to the nearest ten
Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts
Sources:
Department of Health 2000 medical and dental workforce census
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
Delivering the NHS Plan, published in April 2002, provides the latest forecasts for growth in the National Health Service workforce. By 2008, we expect the NHS to have net increases over the September 2001 staff census of at least 15,000 consultants and GPs. We anticipate that international recruitment will contribute towards this figure and our international recruitment assumption for consultants and GPs is 1,000 by 2005.
266Wmedical staff who are not English-speaking; and what provision is made for linguistic tuition for non-English speaking NHS medical staff. [74931]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 21 October 2002]: All medical staff employed in the National Health Service are English-speaking. Doctors are not permitted to work in the NHS until they are able to demonstrate that they possess good English language skills. Medical staff from outside the European Economic Area are required to pass the international English language testing system examination before they are eligible for registration with the General Medical Council and work in the UK. European Economic Area nationals are not required to take the international English language testing system examination to register with the General Medical Council. They are required, however, to demonstrate their language competency to their employer. The procedures for this are set out in guidance for NHS employers: Health Service Circular 1999/137.
Training courses in English language are available throughout the UK at further education colleges. There are also special training courses to prepare doctors for the international English language testing system examination, most of which are provided free of charge to students.