Number of student doctors ‘needs to double’

THE NUMBER of medical students needs to double in order to plug the gap in the doctor workforce, a leading physician has said.

Dr Bod Goddard, president elect of the Royal College of Physicians, said that the Government must do more to increase the number of student doctors.

There are currently around 7,500 medical students.

In 2016, the Government pledged to expand undergraduate medical training places by 1,500. But Dr Goddard said that this needs to be expanded by a further 6,000 doctors in order to fill workforce gaps and account for the rising numbers of physicians who are leaving medicine or choosing to retire early.

Dr Goddard, a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at Royal Derby Hospital, said that workforce was the “big issue” facing British doctors and nurses.

There are currently 15,727 consultant physicians in the UK.

But Dr Goddard warned that each year, 45 per cent of advertised consultant physician posts are not being filled. This is leading to 2,500 vacancies, he added.

He said that workload for doctors has been increasing in an “unrelenting fashion”, adding: “The number of doctors and nurses has completely lost pace with the increase in demands that we have.

“Patients rightly expect to have high quality care with the latest technology and the workforce just isn’t there for them to be able to deliver that at the moment.

“That’s the biggest challenge we have got at the moment, other challenges that go along with that are: how do you fund the health service and along with that how do you fund social care.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “There are currently near-record numbers of NHS doctors working hard to make sure patients get excellent care and we are absolutely committed to supporting them.

“We recently announced the biggest ever increase in training places.”