§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current cost of training a doctor; how many doctors have left the National Health Service to join private health organisations; and how many doctors have been trained by private health organisations at their own expenses.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyUndergraduate education is provided at universities with medical schools and, for the clinical part of the course, in association with the NHS. The public expenditure cost associated with that process is of the order of £130,000. The cost of subsequent postgraduate training varies according to the speciality and may take an additional four to nine years.
Although some data are held centrally on the number of National Health Service leavers, these are not complete, and it is not possible to identify those who have left to join private health organisations.
Postgraduate training of qualified doctors is carried out almost entirely in the NHS and universities.