To ask the Minister of Health whether he intends to encourage prioritising training students in (i) oncology; and (ii) radiology to (a) incentivise it as a speciality; and (b) reduce the workforce shortfalls.

My officials work closely with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency, who manage the medical specialty training programmes on my Department’s behalf, to ensure that all posts on these programmes are filled on a timely basis each year. This includes considering how to address any potential shortfalls in recruitment, for example running a local recruitment process for certain specialties instead of the normal UK-wide recruitment process. The Agency is currently developing plans to address difficulties in attracting applicants to the oncology specialty.

My recent announcement on 14 May of a record £160m investment in workforce commissioning across all professions included 24 new medical specialty training posts which comprised 13 in Internal Medicine, 5 in Core Psychiatry, and 6 in other specialties. I can advise that 1 of these 6 other training posts will be in the Radiology training programme.