§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what training of(a) doctors and (b) nurses for emergency procedures the private sector undertakes; and what help the NHS is able to provide in this regard. [31127]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 28 January 2002]. Information on private sector training of doctors and nurses for emergency procedures is not collected by the National Health Service or the Department of Health. However, the vast majority of doctors and nurses working in the private sector will have been trained in the NHS, where, if the training was undertaken in England, it would include emergency procedures.
Although the independent sector make no direct financial contribution to nurse training, they do provide clinical placements. The availability of quality clinical placements generally is a significant factor in the NHS's capacity to train newly qualified staff. NHS employer-led work force planning takes account of the needs of the independent sector as well as the NHS so that training output is, resources and capacity permitting, aligned to the overall demands of the pool.
When the National Standards Commission takes over the regulation of the private health care sector on 1 April, all providers will have to meet core national minimum standards. This will include a requirement to have on duty at all times a member of staff trained in resuscitation, who has updated training annually. In addition, providers have to meet standards specific to the services they provide. For private hospitals, this includes more detailed and stringent standards covering Advanced Life Support and resuscitation equipment, and the requirement that if the hospital does not have intensive care facilities, it must have an arrangement with another hospital in the vicinity. Whether it is NHS or private, it should have such facilities, for patients to be transferred there in an emergency.