It is widely known that our National Health Service is reliant on doctors who have moved here from abroad. It has been this way for decades with currently 25% of our doctors being trained overseas. In terms of outcomes for patients, it doesn’t matter where a doctor comes from so long as they are as skilled and trained to the same (or better) standards that doctors trained here are.
However, it is right to consider why as a country we have not been self-sufficient in doctors, as well as what the impact might be in developing countries who export many of the doctors they train up. While having enough doctors to cover demand must always be the priority, could it also be that being able to easily bring in good doctors from abroad has taken away an impetus to train enough doctors at home? I was surprised to learn that there is currently a cap on the number of medical training places in England. Half of all applicants are turned down and denied the opportunity to undertake a British medical degree because the number of medical student places is artificially limited to 6,000 a year.
Therefore, I was pleased to learn that Theresa May’s Conservative Government has the ambition to make the NHS in England self-sufficient in doctors. It is planned to open up medical training to many more people in our country, which will broaden opportunity, reduce waste on locums and agency staff, and end our reliance on importing doctors from overseas. It is planned to increase the number of medical student training places in England by up to 25%, from 6,000 a year up to 7,500.
This is just one aspect of securing the long-term future of the NHS as the demands upon it continue to grow. Since 2010, there are almost 8,800 more doctors and almost 5,600 more nurses and midwives. Last year, 4,400 more operations a day were performed with an average of 21,000 more daily out-patients compared to 2010. We need more doctors and looking to train more at home should be where we start.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
12th October 2016