Strength in Numbers dedicated to my late mother Kay
10/06/2015 • 10:43 am 0
The Government must allow the NHS to recruit more doctors from abroad if it is to meet its targets to boost GP numbers, a leading recruiter has said.
The Conservative manifesto called for the health service to take on 5,000 more GPs to help surgeries extend opening hours. The reform is part of a long-term strategy to move care out of hospitals and into local surgeries, thought to be a more efficient way of delivering treatment.
But ManpowerGroup Solutions UK, one of the biggest recruiters of GPs for the NHS, said there were not enough “homegrown” GPs to accomplish the policy. “David Cameron has pledged to recruit 5,000 new GPs to extend surgery opening hours. That will improve care for millions, but it’s hard to see where those doctors will come from,” said James Hick, managing director of the group.
“As a major recruiter of GPs, we see that there are not enough homegrown new clinicians. There’s no simple fix – even if we were to double the number of medical school graduates from British universities, it still wouldn’t solve the problem. “We’re already reliant on doctors and nurses from abroad. Twenty six percent are non-British and that number could rise by 50% over the next five years.”
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Hiring an extra 5,000 GPs would be very difficult without overseas recruitment, major recruiter says
Filed under: GP's, Hospital, NHS, Doctors, foreign doctors, GP's, NHS
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS