Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Paragraph: 38
GP recruitment remains off-track despite trainee growth, requiring further government action.
Conclusion
GP recruitment is essential to resolving the crisis in general practice, and while it is disappointing that the Government remains off track to meet its target to recruit 6,000 additional GPs by 2024, the growth in the number of GP trainees over recent years is encouraging. Nonetheless, there are further steps the Government can take both to increase GP recruitment and improve the outcomes of GP training.
Government Response Summary
The government accepts and is adapting GP specialty training distribution to better reflect population needs as part of NHS England’s trainee redistribution programme. It also highlights ongoing efforts like new medical schools and the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme, which provided £20,000 incentives for training in hard-to-recruit areas, with 800 places available in 2022.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Accept. The Department accepts this recommendation – GP specialty training is currently regionally distributed on a weighted capitation basis. However, this is being adapted to better reflect current and future population weighted need, as part of the wider NHS England’s trainee redistribution programme. In addition, and in part to help distribute GPs more equitably across the country, new medical schools were created in 2018, in areas of the country without existing medical schools. These schools were primary care and psychiatry focussed, which should increase the domestic pipeline into GP training. This is in addition to the continued and valued recruitment of international medical graduates into GP training, for whom Health Education England (HEE) have put in place additional support where needed. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how we could build on these actions, to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of GP training places aligned to population need. NHS England and HEE launched the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) in 2016, which was subsequently run by HEE. This has attracted hundreds of doctors to train in hard to recruit areas by providing a one-off financial incentive of £20,000. The scheme has since widened its criteria to include under-doctored and deprived areas. 550 places were available in 2021 and through additional government investment, there were 800 places available in 2022.