With recent figures showing that more than one in five GPs in the UK has been trained abroad, it is clear that overseas-trained GPs are sorely needed in the NHS. The Induction and Refresher (I&R) Scheme, launched by Health Education England, NHS England, the BMA and the RCGP this month, aims to make it easier for overseas GPs to practise in the UK, to encourage UK-trained GPs back from abroad, and to bring back GPs from career breaks. It offers a £2,300-a-month bursary for GPs going through an induction and assessment programme. But doctors applying to work in the UK say that while the I&R scheme is an improvement on previous ‘haphazard’ local initiatives, it still needs major changes.
As part of the scheme, GPs have to take a multiple choice clinical knowledge test (MCQ), and are assigned a supervised placement for two weeks to six months based on their performance, before they can be put on the performers list. But with some GPs reporting long waits, repeated checks and bureaucracy, and warning that overseas colleagues have been deterred from practising in the UK, will the I&R scheme boost GP numbers?
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Vacancies: Can the I&R scheme boost GP recruitment?
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS 