Government introduces bill to prioritise UK medical graduates

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill outlines plans to change how foundation and speciality training posts are allocated in England. 

Today (13th January), the government is set to introduce new legislation that will prioritise UK-trained doctors for medical training posts, following a sharp rise in competition for places. 

Since visa restrictions were lifted in 2020, the number of applicants for medical training places has more than tripled, rising from around 12,000 in 2019 to nearly 40,000 this year.  

Under the proposed legislation, priority would be given to graduates from UK and Republic of Ireland medical schools, as well as doctors from overseas who have worked in the NHS for a long time. 

UK and Republic of Ireland graduates would also be prioritised for foundation training posts. 

Ministers say the changes are designed to address what they describe as a recruitment system that has become increasingly congested, leaving many newly qualified doctors unable to progress into specialist training. 

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, is expected to refer to the bill during oral questions in the House of Commons this afternoon. This is expected to begin at around 2:30PM and can be streamed via Parliamentlive.tv or on BBC Parliament. 

Streeting said: ‘British taxpayers spend £4bn training medics every year, so it makes little sense for so many of them to then be left struggling to get speciality training places and fearing for their futures.’

‘Our NHS will never exclude international talent – and these changes will also prioritise doctors from overseas who have worked in the NHS for a significant period – but this will restore our home-grown medics to the level playing field they deserve and ensure a sustainable medical workforce in the NHS,’ Streeting continued. 

‘Together with our increase in the number of specialty places, instead of four resident doctors competing for every training post nationally, it will now be fewer than two resident doctors for each place.’

Image: Paul Silvan/UnSplash 

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