HC Deb 11 December 1989 vol 163 cc502-3W
Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what role he proposes for the National Health Service Training Agency in the provision of postgraduate education for the professions allied to medicine; and if he will make a statement;

(2)what was the cost of the National Health Service Training Agency for 1986–87 and 1987–88 and the staffing of it for the same years;

(3)if he will set out the current terms of reference of the National Health Service Training Agency; whether he has any plans to alter them in the light of the recent White Papers; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The National Health Service training authority (NHSTA) is a special health authority covering England and Wales directly accountable to the Secretary of State for Health. Its function is to promote training in the National Health Service other than professional education for which statutory bodies, such as those for nursing and medicine are responsible. Its terms of reference, as set out in the National Health Service Training Authority (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1983, areto identify training needs; to formulate, co-ordinate and develop national policy and standards; to provide, or make arrangements for the provision of, training programmes, courses and research; to stimulate, monitor and review training activity; to advise the Secretary of State and health authorities on all matters relating to training.

We have no plans at present to alter the NHSTA's general terms of reference. The authority is itself considering its future role and mode of operation in the light of the White Papers, and developments in Government policy on vocational training.

The responsibilities of the Council for the Professions Supplementary to Medicine extends only to pre-qualifying training. Although theoretically post-graduate education is within the remit of the NHSTA, in practice, most development work on clinical education is carried out by the professional bodies themselves, while the NHSTA concentrates on multi-disciplinary training frameworks such as Health PICKUP.

The cash limits for the NHSTA for 1986–87 and 1987–88 were:

  • 1986–87: £5.756 million.
  • 1987–88: £5.769 million.

Staffing costs for the same year were:

  • 1986–87: £2.042 million.
  • 1987–88: £2.397 million.

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