Doctors ‘brain drain’ warning as England prepares to lift medical school cap
Lifting the cap on the number of medical students in England could lead to a “brain drain” of medical talent in Scotland, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has said.
The warning came after UK health secretary Matt Hancock said the UK Government was “absolutely looking at” lifting the cap on medical school places in England. The potential move comes after both England and Scotland U-turned on moderated exam results, with teacher estimates reinstated for pupils. But English universities have raised concerns there will not be enough places for all students with the grades to study the subject.
The college, which sets the training standards for doctors, warned it was concerned students in Scotland would seek places in England to pursue their career unless the Scottish Government also lifts the cap on places.
Professor Angela Thomas, the college’s interim president, said the rise in places was necessary to keep Scottish medicine courses competitive.
She said: “we think that, if the number of medical places
in England is increased for future years, the number of Scottish students studying medicine in England could rise, unless more medical school places are made available in Scotland.
“While this is not necessarily a bad thing in principle, the Scottish Government’s own analysis suggests that Scotland-domiciled graduates from Scottish medical schools are retained at almost twice the rate of graduates from the rest of the UK into specialty training.
“Therefore, while we recognise that the number of medical school places has increased in Scotland over recent years, the Scottish Government should undertake work now to ensure that the number of places on Scottish medicine courses remains competitive.
“Ultimately, it is vital that potential medical students are not disadvantaged because of the initial downgrading of exam results through the moderation system.”
The college said any increase in medical school places should be matched with an increase in the number of internal medicine training places which supports acute hospital care by training doctors in how to treat acutely unwell patients, those with chronic diseases, and those with multiple and complex health conditions.
Prof Thomas also called on the Scottish Government to review where it places medical trainees to help increase the number of doctors in areas such as the north of Scotland.
She said: “We would also encourage the Scottish Government to work with National Education Scotland and the Specialty Training Board to establish a fair means of distributing medical trainees across Scotland, in numbers which accurately reflect population demand in remote, rural and more deprived areas. This must follow a review on the distribution, numbers, location and circumstances of medical trainees.
“The college supports increasing the number of places on the Scottish Government’s Widening Access to Medicine Programme, which opens medicine up to more students from remote, rural and deprived areas.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are currently involved in constructivediscussionswithuniversities Scotland about the expansion of places across all subjects and have committed to fully funding these places, including medical degrees.”
“We are also engaging in talks to ensure that health and care service providers have the capacity required to support the training and education required for an increase in all healthcare students.”