§ Mr. McLoughlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the specific requirements of the NHS (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1982 are on the appointment procedure for NHS consultants; what(a) qualifications and (b) experience a surgeon is required to have to be appointed as an NHS consultant; what (i) experience and (ii) qualifications a surgeon is required to have to work for an independent sector treatment center; arid what criteria the appointment procedure must satisfy. [164602]
§ Mr. HuttonCurrent requirements are those set out in the National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996. To become a consultant in the NHS a doctor must be included on the specialist register held by the General Medical Council (GMC)178W and successfully compete for a consultant post in open competition. In the United Kingdom the postgraduate specialist medical qualification, leading to automatic inclusion on the specialist register, is a certificate of completion of specialist training. Individual employers may also specify any particular requirements for a post in a job description and person specification.
Procedures for the appointment of staff in independent sector treatment centers are a matter for the relevant independent healthcare providers. In order to operate independently in an independent sector treatment center a doctor must be a registered medical practitioner included on the specialist register held by the GMC.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appointments have been made to the New Consultant Entry Scheme; and how many appointments are expected to be made in(a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006. [156292]
§ Mr. HuttonThe New Consultant Entry Scheme (NCES) became fully operational in January. To date, five specialist registrars have been appointed to psychiatric, paediatric intensive care, histopathology, rehabilitation medicine and ophthalmology consultant posts on the scheme. Expressions of interest in the scheme continue to grow and we expect to match additional specialist registrars to vacant consultant posts in the coming months.
The scheme is managed by NHS Professionals for Doctors but not centrally funded, allowing strategic health authorities to make local arrangements to place doctors on the scheme. Local reports suggest a further 60 doctors had been appointed on the scheme.
The scheme is voluntary but potentially there are 12,485 specialist registrars in 2004, 2,399 specialist registrars in 2005 and 2,167 specialist registrars in 2006 who are expected to obtain their certificate of completion of specialist training and would be eligible to apply to the scheme.1
Non-consultant career grade doctors who have a certificate of completion of specialist training or are on the specialist register, are also eligible for the scheme. Latest available figures from the September 2001 medical workforce census suggest that there are 448 doctors on the specialist register working in non-consultant career grade posts who would be eligible for the scheme.
1Specialist registrar figures based on calendar year 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Source:
Department of Health Planning Extract.