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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of (a) clinical oncologists, (b) therapeutic radiographers, (c) medical physicists and (d) engineers as part of the NHS 10 year plan.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of (a) clinical oncologists, (b) therapeutic radiographers, (c) medical physicists and (d) engineers as part of the NHS 10 year plan.
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, and how we ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Getting the NHS back to working for patients means ending the workforce crisis across the health service. We intend to take a fresh look at the Long Term Workforce Plan, to ensure it fully aligns with the level of ambition and reforms required following the 10-Year Health Plan. Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to (a) recruit and (b) train more (i) medical physicists and (ii) clinical engineers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to (a) recruit and (b) train more (i) medical physicists and (ii) clinical engineers.
The number of Scientist Training Programme (STP) trainees in Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering has tended to increase, with larger increases in recent years. The number of Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) trainees has remained fairly constant. The following two tables show the number of trainees in the Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering STP each year since 2011, and the number of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering trainees in HSST each year since 2014, respectively:
Year | Medical Physics STP | Clinical Engineering STP |
2011 | 61 | 8 |
2012 | 60 | 14 |
2013 | 67 | 13 |
2014 | 72 | 18 |
2015 | 72 | 8 |
2016 | 66 | 9 |
2017 | 73 | 20 |
2018 | 76 | 16 |
2019 | 86 | 13 |
2020 | 77 | 17 |
2021 | 83 | 25 |
2022 | 103 | 12 |
2023 | 118 | 21 |
2024 | 117 | 15 |
Note: The data for 2024 is subject to change, and without the Wales numbers.
Year | Medical Physics HSST | Clinical Engineering HSST |
2014 | 14 | 1 |
2015 | 29 | 1 |
2016 | 26 | 2 |
2017 | 23 | 2 |
2018 | 12 | 2 |
2019 | 15 | 4 |
2020 | 16 | 0 |
2021 | 15 | 2 |
2022 | 11 | N/A |
2023 | 17 | 2 |
2024 | 8 | 2 |
Notes:
- the data for 2024 is subject to change, and without the Wales numbers; and
- data is not available for the year 2022.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the future National Health Service workforce requirements, and includes healthcare science figures, though this is not broken down into Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering workforce targets. The plan assesses that education and training places for healthcare scientists need to increase by 20 to 34%, reaching between 930 and 1,039 places by 2033/34. The ambition set out in this plan is to increase training places for healthcare scientists by 32%, to over 1,000 places, by 2031/32. We will work towards achieving this ambition by increasing training places by 13%, to over 850, by 2028/29.
The workforce plan also sets out the ambition to retain up to 130,000 more staff across the NHS over the next 15 years, through measures to improve staff’s experience of working in the NHS. This applies to all NHS staff groups, including medical physicists and clinical engineers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help raise awareness of careers in (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help raise awareness of careers in (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.
Promoting healthcare science careers is a vital part of our NHS Health Careers team’s work, covering 350 careers in the National Health Service. Almost 240,000 people accessed information on healthcare science careers over the last 12 months.
As part of National Careers Week and Healthcare Science Week, an estimated 10,000 students heard directly from a range of NHS staff, including an apprentice Clinical Engineer and other healthcare scientists, as their stories were shown in classrooms across the country.
We will continue to promote all healthcare science careers, including Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, as part of our work to raise awareness of all careers in the NHS, and encouraging people to join the NHS workforce. There are several case studies promoting careers in Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering on the National School of Healthcare Science website.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) medical physicists and (b) clinical engineers have adequate access to advanced (a) radiotherapy and (b) other relevant equipment in hospitals.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) medical physicists and (b) clinical engineers have adequate access to advanced (a) radiotherapy and (b) other relevant equipment in hospitals.
The Government and NHS England work closely together to ensure that staff have access to appropriate equipment, to ensure that cancer patients can receive high quality radiotherapy treatment across England. This includes supporting advances in radiotherapy, using cutting-edge imaging and technology to help target radiation doses at cancer cells more precisely.
The Government has invested in the latest technology in radiotherapy, ensuring that every radiotherapy provider had access to modern, cutting-edge radiotherapy equipment, enabling the rollout of new techniques like stereotactic ablative radiotherapy. The total central investment made between 2016 and 2021 was £162 million, and enabled the replacement or upgrade of approximately 100 radiotherapy treatment machines. Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has sat with local systems. This is supported by the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the National Health Service from 2022 to 2025.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the age demographic on the workforce for (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the age demographic on the workforce for (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.
No assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out future National Health Service workforce requirements and includes healthcare science figures, though this is not broken down into Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering workforce targets. The plan assesses that education and training places for healthcare scientists need to increase by 20 to 34%, reaching 930 to 1,039 places by 2033/34. The ambition set out in this plan is to increase training places for healthcare scientists by 32%, to over 1,000 places by 2031/32. We will work towards achieving this ambition by increasing training places by 13%, to over 850 places by 2028/29.
The workforce plan also sets out the ambition to retain up to 130,000 more staff across the NHS over the next 15 years, through measures to improve staff’s experience of working in the NHS. This applies to all NHS staff groups, including medical physicists and clinical engineers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) Medical Physicists and (b) Clinical Engineers required in the NHS over the next (i) five (ii) 10 and (iii) 15 years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) Medical Physicists and (b) Clinical Engineers required in the NHS over the next (i) five (ii) 10 and (iii) 15 years.
NHS England does not hold data centrally on the requested information, although there are a range of estimates carried out by different groups.
The Diagnostic Imaging Networks have been encouraged to look at demand and capacity modelling at an integrated care board level.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the numbers of (a) Medical Physicists and (b) Clinical Engineers in the NHS Workforce as of 18 March 2024.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the numbers of (a) Medical Physicists and (b) Clinical Engineers in the NHS Workforce as of 18 March 2024.
NHS England publishes monthly data on the numbers of National Health Service staff. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the NHS, and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
The number of healthcare scientists working within the care settings of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering can be found in the NHS Workforce Statistics, November 2023 Staff Group, Care Setting and Level file, within the scientific, therapeutic, and technical staff, or ST&T, tab.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent advances in clinical (a) technology and (b) other equipment on the number of (i) medical physicists and (ii) clinical engineers that are required in the NHS.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent advances in clinical (a) technology and (b) other equipment on the number of (i) medical physicists and (ii) clinical engineers that are required in the NHS.
The Department does not plan to make specific assessments of the impacts, but advances in clinical technology and equipment are crucial to the work of NHS England. For example, the Government has invested in the latest technology in radiotherapy, ensuring that every radiotherapy provider had access to modern, cutting-edge radiotherapy equipment, enabling the rollout of new techniques like stereotactic ablative radiotherapy. The total central investment made between 2016 and 2021 was £162 million, and enabled the replacement or upgrade of approximately 100 radiotherapy treatment machines.
The Department does not plan to make specific assessments of the number of medical physicists and clinical engineers required in the National Health Service, but is backing the NHS’s Long-Term Workforce Plan with over £2.4 billion of funding over the next five years, to ensure additional education and training places. We are also working with NHS England to reform and modernise the way staff work and harness new technology and innovations to double NHS labour productivity, and to make sure staff can spend more time with patients. Finally, NHS England is also growing the cancer workforce, with 50% more staff in the cancer workforce when compared to 2010.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 177683 on Engineering and Physics: Vocational Guidance, for what reason his Department is not able on undertake a comparative assessment of an area of responsibility that is devolved in Wales and Scotland;...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 177683 on Engineering and Physics: Vocational Guidance, for what reason his Department is not able on undertake a comparative assessment of an area of responsibility that is devolved in Wales and Scotland;...
I refer the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central to the answer I gave on 15 October 2018 to Question 177683. The Department has not conducted the specific comparison requested, but in developing policy on curriculum and qualifications, the Department routinely considers evidence about what works best in other educational jurisdictions, including the highest performing nations in the world.
The Government is committed to sharing best practice and enhancing collaborative working on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) between the nations of the UK and has representation from devolved administrations on the Cross-Government STEM Board.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effect on the take up of careers in (a) engineering and (b) physics by (i) women and (ii) men of the (A) Highers system in Scotland and (B) A-Levels in England and Wales.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effect on the take up of careers in (a) engineering and (b) physics by (i) women and (ii) men of the (A) Highers system in Scotland and (B) A-Levels in England and Wales.
As education policy is devolved, issues relating to qualifications in Scotland and Wales are a matter for the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly respectively.
The Government is committed to growing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills needed for a dynamic and modern economy, including those needed for careers in engineering and physics.
Both mathematics and physics are important qualifications to have in order to pursue careers in engineering and physics. STEM A levels have been reformed to make them more rigorous and to better prepare students for further study at university. Published 2017 data shows that there has been an 18% increase in the number of entries to STEM A levels by girls, and an 17% increase in the number of entries by boys since 2010.
To ensure that more young people are developing the skills needed for careers in engineering and physics, the Department is investing in programmes to increase the take-up of maths, by incentivising schools using the recently launched advanced maths premium, and providing support to schools to improve progression to physics A level through the Stimulating Physics Network.
The Government’s careers strategy has committed to improving information and guidance for STEM careers. The Department is raising awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer, to inform young people and enable them to choose the career path that is right for them.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total number of United Kingdom domiciled students qualifying with a first degree in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and mathematics in each of the years 2001 to 2010 from universities in England and Wales.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total number of United Kingdom domiciled students qualifying with a first degree in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and mathematics in each of the years 2001 to 2010 from universities in England and Wales.
| UK Domiciled First Degree Qualifiers by Subject of Study English and Welsh Higher Education Institutions Academic Years 2002-03 to 2009-10 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Year | Physics | Chemistry | Biology | Engineering (1) | Mathematical Sciences (2) | Total |
| 2002-03 | 1,855 | 2,390 | 3,605 | 10,575 | 4,140 | 22,565 |
| 2003-04 | 1,775 | 2,265 | 3,710 | 10,865 | 4,345 | 22,965 |
| 2004-05 | 1,905 | 2,240 | 3,805 | 10,400 | 4,040 | 22,390 |
| 2005-06 | 1,980 | 2,055 | 3.695 | 10,020 | 4,120 | 21,865 |
| 2006-07 | 1,870 | 2,105 | 3.880 | 9,925 | 4,250 | 22,030 |
| 2007-08 | 1,825 | 2,220 | 3,900 | 10,040 | 4,290 | 22,270 |
| 2008-09 | 1.990 | 2,285 | 3,735 | 10,215 | 4,440 | 22,660 |
| 2009-10 | 2,070 | 2,395 | 3,840 | 10,425 | 4,740 | 23,470 |
Lords debate on motion to call attention to science teaching. Motion withdrawn. (Debated with Lords motion to take note of the report of the Science and Technology Select Committee on Science Teaching in Schools (HL 257 2005-06)).
Lords debate on motion to call attention to science teaching. Motion withdrawn. (Debated with Lords motion to take note of the report of the Science and Technology Select Committee on Science Teaching in Schools (HL 257 2005-06)).
My Lords, the House is indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Broers, for opening this excellent debate on science teaching in schools and for the thorough report of the Science and Technology Committee, which he chairs. I thank also his committee colleagues, several of whom spoke in the debate, for...
My Lords, the House is indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Broers, for opening this excellent debate on science teaching in schools and for the thorough report of the Science and Technology Committee, which he chairs. I thank also his committee colleagues, several of whom spoke in the debate, for...
My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Broers, on securing this very significant debate. It is invaluable to discuss the wider impacts that the teaching of science in our classrooms has on the UK economy as a whole. There are huge difficulties facing teaching...
My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Broers, on securing this very significant debate. It is invaluable to discuss the wider impacts that the teaching of science in our classrooms has on the UK economy as a whole. There are huge difficulties facing teaching...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Broers, on two scores: first, for introducing this timely debate; and, secondly—I speak as a member of the Science and Technology Committee—for being an excellent committee chair and for taking us through this extremely important topic and helping us to produce a...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Broers, on two scores: first, for introducing this timely debate; and, secondly—I speak as a member of the Science and Technology Committee—for being an excellent committee chair and for taking us through this extremely important topic and helping us to produce a...
My Lords, I beg leave to withdraw the Motion for Papers. Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
My Lords, I beg leave to withdraw the Motion for Papers. Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
rose to call attention to science teaching; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I would like to say how grateful I am that such a distinguished group of noble Lords, who are so knowledgeable about science teaching, are taking part in this debate. There can...
rose to call attention to science teaching; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I would like to say how grateful I am that such a distinguished group of noble Lords, who are so knowledgeable about science teaching, are taking part in this debate. There can...
My Lords, I am very grateful to have the opportunity provided by the noble Lord, Lord Broers, to debate this matter. I immediately echo what he said at the end of his speech, which was picked up by the noble Lord, Lord Winston, on the importance of breadth—for scientists, who...
My Lords, I am very grateful to have the opportunity provided by the noble Lord, Lord Broers, to debate this matter. I immediately echo what he said at the end of his speech, which was picked up by the noble Lord, Lord Winston, on the importance of breadth—for scientists, who...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Broers, for introducing this important debate. I am a former science teacher. I taught general science in a comprehensive school—a boys’ school—and biology up to A-level. That was a long time ago, but I think that I can assure the noble Lord...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Broers, for introducing this important debate. I am a former science teacher. I taught general science in a comprehensive school—a boys’ school—and biology up to A-level. That was a long time ago, but I think that I can assure the noble Lord...