Earlier this week it was proposed that the NHS should write off trainee doctors’ debts in return for working in Wales, as a means of addressing local recruitment difficulties [1].

Commenting on this proposal, Dr Rosemary Hollick, Chair, RCPE Trainees & Members’ Committee [2], said,

“A number of parts of the UK, including Scotland and Wales, are experiencing difficulties in recruiting trainee doctors into the acute medical specialties. This creates staff shortages and contributes to the steady erosion in the balance of time for training and NHS service provision. In practical terms, this results in trainee doctors being used to plug gaps in hospital rotas at the expense of their training and this has an adverse impact on the quality of care which can be provided to patients.


“We believe that proposals of this nature, based upon the successful experiences of other countries including New Zealand which has been very successful in recruiting doctors and nurses from the UK, deserve serious consideration not only in Wales but in all parts of the UK where recruitment is proving challenging. There is also evidence from other professions in the UK and elsewhere to indicate that incentivising trainees to work in less popular posts could improve levels of staffing and, in turn, raise standards of training and care. Clearly, this proposal and others involving different forms of financial incentive would have cost implications. However, London weighting has been used for many years to support recruitment and we believe that any additional costs incurred would be offset by securing a more sustainable workforce throughout the country.

“If we do not explore creative solutions to addressing the recruitment problems which we face, we fear that careers in the acute medical specialties will continue to prove unattractive to talented students and trainees and that ultimately patient care will suffer as a result of this. Financial incentives alone will not solve the problem and need to be considered as part of a wider ranging strategy, within which we will continue to influence improvements in the quality of training provided throughout the UK.”

ENDS

Contact: Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07733-263453

Notes to Editors

[1]  ‘Plaid Cymru plan would wipe junior doctors' debts in Wales’, BBC news, 13 January 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-25703474

[2] The RCPE Trainees & Members’ Committee represents over 3000 medical trainees at all points of training throughout the UK. In recent years it has become one of the most active and influential medical trainee groups in the country. http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/careers-training/trainees-members-committee