BMA ‘increasingly’ seeing non-GPs appointed as training programme supervisors

Exclusive The BMA has raised concerns about the growing shortage of GP trainers and warned it is ‘increasingly’ seeing non-GPs appointed as training programme directors and supervisors.

The union’s GP registrars committee said there are concerns that non-GPs are increasingly becoming involved in overseeing some aspects of GP training, including allied health professionals ‘who have never worked as a GP’.

The committee’s co-chairs warned that ‘intense workload pressures’ in general practice are ‘making it harder for GPs to take on trainer roles’.

And they said that if this trend continues, there is a risk of ‘depriving future GPs of the invaluable insight and mentorship that only experienced GPs can provide’.

It comes after the Government specified GP training as a priority investment area while announcing a £29bn funding boost for the NHS in last week’s long-term spending review.

Dr Cheska Ball and Dr Oliver Salazar, co-chair and interim co-chair of the BMA GP registrars committee, told Pulse: ‘Nurses, therapists and paramedics play an essential role in delivering excellent patient care as part of the wider general practice team.

‘However, we are increasingly seeing non-GPs appointed as training programme directors and supervisors – a reflection of the growing shortage of GP educators in England.

‘Intense workload pressures in general practice are making it harder for GPs to take on trainer roles.

‘If this trend continues, we risk depriving future GPs of the invaluable insight and mentorship that only experienced GPs can provide.

‘GP trainers bring a unique understanding of the challenges and realities of general practice and their role as training programme directors must be protected.’  

Last year, NHS England set out an ambitious workforce plan – currently being revised – to expand medical school and GP training places, but a Pulse analysis revealed that achieving these goals would require large increases to trainer capacity.

And the GMC warned that these plans for expanding the medical workforce ‘will fail’ if the NHS does not prioritise trainer capacity and support, as there are ‘clear signs of strain’ among the medical trainer workforce, which will ‘only intensify’ as training places increase. 

The Doctors’ Association UK GP spokesperson Dr Steve Taylor agreed that ‘there is no substitute’ for GP trainers in general practice.

He told Pulse: ‘It is vital that GPs are trained by GPs. There is no substitute for this. As a GP trainer, with decades of experience, I can’t see how this can be done without GPs.

‘It is vitally important that training is safeguarded, that GPs are reimbursed appropriately and that priority is given to training the next generation of GPs.’

The BMA has also raised serious concerns about the ‘dilution’ of GP training quality via new methods where more learning takes place online. 

At the UK LMCs conference last month, the GP registrars committee warned of the rollout of a new training approach where a ‘significant portion of what was direct patient contact time is now spent behind a computer’ doing e-learning modules. 

The committee also said that GPs are working for free in order to stay on the performers list as a result of the unemployment crisis. In an exclusive interview with Pulse, the GP registrars committee co-chairs said this is a ‘real issue’ since GPs may ‘lose the whole ability to practise’.

Pulse has looked in detail at the challenges within GP training capacity and the shortage of GP trainers.