13.05.16
Lord Prior denies NHS suffering from a decline in pharmacologists
Lord Prior has insisted the NHS is not suffering from a decline in clinical pharmacologist posts despite growing concern over the issue.
Lord Hunt, the shadow spokesperson for health, submitted six written questions asking what assessment the government has made of the impact of a shortage of pharmacologists.
In his response to the questions today, Lord Prior refused to say what assessment the government had made and said that figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that there had not been a decline in pharmacologists.
However, Lord Hunt said that there are concerns about a predicted 35% loss of pharmacologist posts due to retirement in the future.
Lord Prior said Health Education England had recently carried out a review of future planning, including planning for the impact of retirement, of the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics workforce.
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