To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1998, Official Report, column 112, in what ways workforce planning arrangements have been improved to ensure that the supply of doctors reflects demand. [34461]

Recent steps to improve medical workforce planning include:

(i) the Specialty Workforce Advisory Group (SWAG), which advises on the numbers of doctors and dentists in training needed to meet future requirements for consultants, has recently extended its remit to cover general practice, enabling planning across the entire medical workforce; and

(ii) SWAG's planning processes now build in greater input and involvement from National Health Service management, timed to inform national workforce planning at a much earlier stage in the cycle than has been possible previously, encouraging a more effective dialogue with the NHS and thus a better blend of top-down and bottom-up planning.

We aim to improve NHS workforce planning by ensuring that workforce plans are considered alongside future plans for services. In particular, local NHS organisations are being encouraged to take an active role in workforce planning. Also, workforce planning should cover the whole NHS workforce.