Department of Health
Friday, 2 June, 2017

The Government proposes to increase the number of student places at medical schools in England by 1,500. The first 500 places will be allocated to medical schools and will be available to students in September 2018. This consultation seeks views on how to maximise the benefits from the increases in medical student numbers.

The College response challenges the assumption that increasing undergraduate places alone will actually address the underlying problem, which is that significant numbers of graduates leave the NHS within a few years of qualifying. Workforce planning needs a clear strategic direction to address recruitment and retention issues, including investment in our current and future workforce to create a culture where colleagues have the time to care, time to train, and time to research. We must retain high quality training programmes and value our junior doctors to ensure the UK remains an attractive place to train and work.