NHS job switches to recruit doctors
BREXIT could allow health professionals to become doctors without starting their training from scratch under proposals.
Freedom from EU rules should make it easier for a switch between disciplines.
Plans announced today will see the Government consider how health workers can move without having to “retrain on inflexible, fixed-length courses”.
A physiotherapist who wants to become a doctor currently has to go through a standard training process which lasts at least five years and does not take into account existing experience and qualifications.
NHS staff could also find it easier to retrain as nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists from other roles.
Training will become more flexible to fit around caring or parenting duties.
The Department of Health insists that patient safety will not be compromised. From 2023, all doctors will have to pass the General Medical Council’s “licensing assessment”.
The move comes as the Government seeks to ensure 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 more GPS are in place by 2025.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Our incredible NHS is full of highly qualified and dedicated professionals – and I want to do everything I can to help them fulfil their ambitions and provide the best possible care for patients.
“Without being bound by EU regulations, we can focus on ensuring our workforce has the necessary training which is best suited to them and their experience, without ever compromising on our high standards of care or on patient safety.”
Prerana Issar, chief people officer for the NHS, said: “Cutting unnecessary red tape, while keeping and strengthening essential safety standards, will enable our committed staff to retrain for other new and exciting roles.”
Susan Masters, of the Royal College of Nursing, said the key to filling jobs is to “attract more people as well as allow existing professionals to move around”.
ASIDE from infrastructure and trade we are already seeing the benefits of political freedom from the EU.
The decision to cut EU regulation on health professionals needing to repeat training to become doctors means that nurses and paramedics will have to spend fewer years in switching.
This will surely help with the shortage of doctors and be a boost to individuals who want to make the move to a more challenging role.
The review of alcohol duties is good for the consumers and producers of quality products such as real ale and that most traditional of English drinks, mead.
Neither could have happened while we were in the EU. So already we are able to raise a glass to a better country after Brexit.