Speeches by Stafford.

“I accept that this is difficult stuff, but The Times managed it. If it can manage it, it should not be beyond the wit of the medical regulator.”

“About 1,800. And do you know how many were employed at the start of the last Government, in about 2010?”

“But it also says that it is still an area of risk.”

“I just want to confirm: do you share registration and fitness to practise with all the other regulators?”

“It would be useful to have a list of all those who are currently not sharing that data with you, for whatever reason. Given that, with patient safety being your priority, do you think it is acceptable to continue to register doctors who are dual registered in those countries that do not provide that information to you?”

“I understand the limits on what you know and what you do not know, but could part of your requirements be that a doctor must tell you if they are registered with another regulator—is that something that is listed in your rules at the moment?”

“So you do know if they are registered with a regulator in another country.”

“The figure from your report is 605. Why has your staffing ballooned by 280% or 300% in those 14 years?”

“Is that proactively, or if they ask?”

“Right, so a 50% increase.”

“Finally, on the 92 doctors, was there any correlation between where they were registered, which countries they were operating in and the type of fitness-to-practise issues that they had been subject to?”

“One of the areas that you do not appear to have a grip on is doctors who are subject to regulatory action overseas. There was a big report in The Times at the back end of last year showing that significant numbers of doctors who are registered with you have received overseas actions that you were not aware of. I unders…”

“Sorry, are you saying that the number of doctors you register has gone up by nearly 300%?”

“Could you give me a flavour of the overseas regulators that are not sharing information with you?”

“To the nearest 100?”

“When I said “flavour”, I meant can you give me the list of countries that are not sharing that information?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) on securing this important debate and his characteristically well-informed speech. His passion and knowledge as a GP bring a real benefit to this Chamber. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Lowestoft (…”

“In Surrey, the high needs block deficit is forecast to rise to £165 million by 2027. Although Conservative-run Surrey county council has earmarked £144 million in reserves to ease that pressure, that cannot be a long-term solution. Can the Minister confirm whether and when Surrey’s safety valve agreement will be extend…”

“10. What plans her Department has to tackle the special educational needs and disabilities funding shortfall identified in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s “Economic and fiscal outlook” of November 2025.”

“Part of the trial is to ask the child participants the Avon longitudinal study of parents and carers romantic relationships questionnaire. Is the Minister as concerned as I am that children under the age of 13 will be asked sexually explicit questions?”