§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his strategy is to boost the numbers of locum doctors available in(a) primary and (b) secondary care; and if he will make a statement. [48060]
§ Mr. HuttonIt is the responsibility of primary care trusts and NHS trusts to identify their own need for locum doctors in the primary and secondary care sectors respectively. It is accepted that locum doctors are an essential part of the NHS workforce.
However, the focus of our plans to increase the size of the medical workforce is to increase the number of permanent doctors. Following the spending review settlement announced by the Chancellor in the Budget we have committed ourselves in "Delivering the NHS Plan" to increasing the medical workforce by at least 15,000 more consultants and GPs by 2008. This is on top of the 9,550 increase in doctors in the NHS since 1997.