This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Medical school places to rise by 25 per cent, Hunt announces
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced plans to increase the number of medical school places by 25 per cent from 2018, from 6,000 to 7,500.
Hunt believes increasing the number of home-grown doctors will be essential in stemming the growing health workforce crisis, especially following Brexit, which may make it harder for Britain to recruit doctors trained abroad.
In an interview with the BBC, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "We want to see the NHS able to recruit doctors from this country. We want to see more British doctors in the NHS."
At the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Hunt said: "We need to prepare the NHS for the future, which means doing something we have never done properly before - training enough doctors.
"Currently a quarter of our doctors come from overseas. They do a fantastic job and we have been clear that we want EU nationals who are already here to stay post-Brexit.
"But is it right to import doctors from poorer countries that need them while turning away bright home graduates desperate to study medicine?"
While the news has been welcomed by many, Dr Mark Porter, leader of the British Medical Association, has countered that the announcement falls short of what is needed: “The government's poor workforce planning has meant that the health service is currently facing huge and predictable staff shortages.
"We desperately need more doctors, particularly with the government plans for further seven-day services, but it will take a decade for extra places at medical school to produce more doctors.
"This initiative will not stop the NHS from needing to recruit overseas staff."
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