{"id":1345,"date":"2025-03-07T11:26:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T11:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/call-for-action-on-graduate-training\/"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T11:26:58","slug":"call-for-action-on-graduate-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/call-for-action-on-graduate-training\/","title":{"rendered":"ONHSWD: Our call for action on graduate training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) urges the government to significantly expand the numbers of graduate training places to meet the country\u2019s needs.\r\n\r\nDAUK believes training opportunities should be available to all UK graduates and international medical graduates (IMGs) with at least two years\u2019 experience practising in the NHS \u2013 and this Overseas NHS Workers Day we are calling on the government to invest in them for the good of the nation\u2019s health.\r\n\r\nThe NHS is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/commonslibrary.parliament.uk\/research-briefings\/cbp-9731\/\">short of around 8,850 doctors<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingsfund.org.uk\/insight-and-analysis\/blogs\/comparing-nhs-to-health-care-systems-other-countries#4.-the-uk-has-fewer-doctors-and-nurses\">UK has fewer doctors and nurses per person than most of its peer countries<\/a>, with <a href=\"https:\/\/commonslibrary.parliament.uk\/research-briefings\/cbp-9731\/\">billions of pounds of taxpayers\u2019 money<\/a> being spent every year on agency staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Workforce planning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a massive failure of workforce planning.\r\n\r\nDespite the clear need, hundreds of doctors coming through UK medical schools and IMGs already practising in the NHS are being denied opportunities because of underfunding by successive governments, which have failed to increase the numbers of specialty training places.\r\n\r\nDr Matt Kneale, DAUK committee member and former chair, said: \u201cWe recognise that there are real issues with specialty training places that need nuanced solutions that are both pragmatic and lawful.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to justify leaving UK-trained doctors unemployed while training numbers remain static.\r\n\r\n\u201cThese graduates could be contributing to the NHS workforce rather than being underutilised, especially given the public investment in their education.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s also worth questioning the fairness of continuing to recruit IMGs through costly PLAB exams when many face limited prospects of NHS employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">International medical graduates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis risks setting unrealistic expectations and could leave some IMGs feeling misled about their opportunities.\u201d\r\n\r\nDr Pushpo Hossain, DAUK\u2019s IMG lead, said: \u201cAs an IMG myself, I had more than two-and-a-half years of NHS experience before applying for training jobs.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf an IMG has worked in the NHS for two years, they should be able to apply for training posts under the same criteria as a UK graduate.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis would strike a fair balance and recognise their experience within the NHS.\u201d\r\n\r\nTax payers\u2019 money is increasingly being spent pushing non-doctor roles, such as physician associates, despite concerns over their training, scope of practice, and patient safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non-doctor roles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The expansion of non-doctor roles is another factor impacting resident doctors and IMGs and limiting their opportunities.\r\n\r\nPatients want to see a doctor, and patient outcomes are significantly improved when they do.\r\n\r\nDr Ellen Welch, DAUK vice-chair, added: \u201cWe need to look at why doctors are out of work, while rotas are understaffed and waiting lists still stretch into the millions.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe need our government to fund job opportunities for both UK and international graduate doctors instead of paying less qualified non-doctors to cover doctor roles.\u201d\r\n\r\nPlease support our work by contributing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-the-work-of-the-doctors-association-uk-dauk\">our crowd funder<\/a> or by <a href=\"https:\/\/dauk.org\/membership\/\">becoming a member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) urges the government to significantly expand the numbers of graduate training places to meet the country\u2019s needs. DAUK believes training&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,58],"tags":[621,27,456],"class_list":["post-1345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dauk-news","category-the-nhs","tag-img","tag-international-medical-graduates","tag-overseas-nhs-workers-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}