Angina

Mr. Moss
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are enough specialists to treat refractory angina.

Ann Keen
As set out in the next stage review, the health and social care work force planning system will be locally led, based on the principle that quality is best served by devolving decision making as closely as possible to the frontline in an environment of coherence, transparency and clear accountabilities.

The Department will establish a Centre of Excellence for work force planning and national professional advisory boards, such as Medical Education England, to support local planning through high quality research, analysis and clinical advice to identify long-term work force requirements. The centre will also have a capability and capacity building function to ensure local national health service organisations can produce high quality work force planning. These measures will mean the NHS is in the best position to ensure that we have the right staff with the right skills in the right place at the right time, and that highly trained specialists are delivering the high quality care required for treatment of cases such as refractory angina.