§ Alistair BurtTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the costs to further and higher education of the expansion of the NHS set out in the Wanless report. [52442]
§ Margaret HodgeFollowing a review of the medical workforce, published in December 1997, and the commitments made in the NHS Plan in July 2000, the number of places available to study medicine in England will increase to almost 6,000 in 2005–06. Of the additional places, over 45 per cent. will be at new medical schools or centres of medical education. The report "Securing Our Future Health: Taking A Long-Term View" (the Wanless report) makes no recommendation for further increasing the number of students entering medical training. The cost of training nurses, midwives, health visitors and other health professionals is met by the NHS.