Doctor leaders will vote on whether UK medical school graduates should be ‘prioritised’ ahead of international graduates for foundation programme posts.
At the BMA’s annual representative meeting next month, union representatives will take part in a debate and vote on two motions around reforming postgraduate medical training, as the current system is ‘failing’ doctors.
They will vote on demanding that all UK graduates are guaranteed foundation programme posts in future recruitment cycles, with one of the motions citing the Government failures in workforce planning and expanding specialty training places.
The first motion included in the debate calls for UK graduates to be offered posts in specialty training ahead of ‘all other applicants’, as well as an expansion of GP and consultant programme posts to match the increase in UK medical school places.
It says: ‘Whilst international medical graduates (IMGs) are a valued part of the UK’s medical workforce, this meeting is concerned by exponentially increasing competition ratios for speciality training, driven primarily by overseas recruitment.
‘We therefore call on the four nations statutory education bodies and the Department for Health and Social Care to guarantee all UK medical school graduates a foundation programme post for all future recruitment cycles and prioritise UK medical school graduates in the preference informed allocation ranking for UK Foundation Programme recruitment.’
However, the second motion up for debate argues that ‘prioritising’ UK medical graduates over ‘equally qualified’ IMGs ‘undermines existing BMA policy’ on fairness, ‘weakens’ workforce retention, and ‘risks patient care’.
It adds: ‘This meeting resolves to oppose any restrictions on specialty training applications based on country of primary medical qualification, reaffirming equal opportunities for all doctors working in the UK; [and to] ensure fair access to training for all GMC-registered doctors already contributing to the NHS, without arbitrary cut-off dates or discriminatory prioritisation.’
It also calls for a reform of recruitment practices to ‘prevent exploitation’ of locally employed doctors, ensuring career progression and ‘fair treatment’.
The meeting’s agenda also includes a motion calling for the resignation of the GMC’s chief executive, and for the BMA to set out a vision for a reformed GMC or alternative regulator, echoing a similar motion from last year’s conference.
BMA representatives will also vote on lobbying the Government for immediate exemptions for all GP practices to the increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions, as well as ‘appropriate reimbursement’ for current cost increases relating to this.
Other subjects to be debated at the meeting taking place in Liverpool on 23-25 June include:
- Calling on the BMA to develop workforce plans that increase funding to general practice for principal and salaried GPs;
- Affirming all healthcare professionals’ right to decline involvement in assisted dying;
- Supporting GPs in declining the prescribing of specialist indicated medication from secondary care clinicians.
It comes after earlier this month GP leaders criticised BMA resident doctors for supporting a ‘protectionist policy’ around specialist places, arguing that it disadvantaged IMGs.
LMC representatives from around the UK voted in favour of asking GP committees to ‘distance themselves from the protectionist policy passed by the BMA resident doctors committee’.
The policy, passed in March by the BMA Resident Doctors Committee (formerly the Junior Doctors Committee) during a meeting, demanded that the UK governments ‘implement a specialty training recruitment process that lawfully prioritises medical graduates from UK medical schools’, to tackle high competition ratios.
Earlier this year, NHS England announced it will conduct a ‘significant’ review of all postgraduate medical training, including GP programmes.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty and NHSE’s national medical director Sir Stephen Powis will oversee the review, which was prompted by ‘concerns from resident doctors’.
Last month, GPs were asked for their views to inform the review.
The motions in full
Motion by MEDICAL STUDENTS CONFERENCE: Whilst international medical graduates (IMGs) are a valued part of the UK’s medical workforce, this meeting is concerned by exponentially increasing competition ratios for speciality training, driven primarily by overseas recruitment. This meeting therefore condemns the Government’s failure in workforce planning which has left many medical students and residents in the UK in the untenable position of facing unemployment in the near future. We therefore call on the four nations statutory education bodies and the Department for Health & Social Care to:- i) guarantee all UK medical school graduates a foundation programme post for all future recruitment cycles and prioritise UK medical school graduates in the preference informed allocation ranking for UK Foundation Programme recruitment; ii) introduce a process for medical speciality training recruitment where UK medical school graduates are offered posts first before any unfilled posts are opened to all other applicants; iii) Introduce an exception to part ii for IMGs who are GMC registered and practicing in the NHS/HSC on or before the 5th of March 2025 and who have two years or go on to gain two years of NHS/HSC experience; iv) expand foundation programme and speciality programme posts to match increases in UK medical school places with the appropriate workforce planning for expansion of GP and consultant posts.
Motion by EAST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL: That this meeting condemns the persistent failure of UK and devolved nation governments to significantly expand medical specialty training posts and rejects policies that discriminate against international medical graduates (IMGs) already working in the NHS. Prioritizing UK medical graduates over equally qualified IMGs undermines existing BMA policy on fairness, weakens workforce retention, and risks patient care. This meeting resolves to:- i) oppose any restrictions on specialty training applications based on country of primary medical qualification, reaffirming equal opportunities for all doctors working in the UK; ii) ensure fair access to training for all GMC-registered doctors already contributing to the NHS, without arbitrary cut-off dates or discriminatory prioritization; iii) demand that UK and devolved nation governments expand specialty training posts and consultant/GP positions to reduce competition ratios, prevent unemployment, and sustain the medical workforce; iv) reform recruitment practices to prevent exploitation of locally employed doctors, ensuring career progression and fair treatment.
Motion by CARDIFF AND VALE OF GLAMORGAN DIVISION: That this meeting believes that increases in employers’ national insurance contributions threaten the viability of general practice. It calls on the BMA to:- i) lobby the Government for an immediate exemption for all general practices to increases in employers’ national insurance contributions; ii) lobby the Government for appropriate reimbursement for current cost increases relating to increases in employers’ national insurance contributions.
Motion by CONFERENCE OF LMCS: That this meeting believes that secondary care clinicians asking GPs to initiate medications for them is a transfer of workload and carries an increased risk and:- i) supports GPs in declining the prescribing of specialist indicated medication unless and until there is adequate evidence that the patient has been safely counselled, and the medications initiated, titrated and the patient stabilised; ii) supports those GPs in declining all initial prescriptions requested by secondary care non-prescribers as they should be prescribed within the speciality or service; iii) mandates GPC UK to explore all options for the data flow of outpatient medication advice and prescribing, including the option of automating the “writing back” the medication prescribed in secondary care, into the GP / primary care records; iv) demands a roll out of electronic prescribing to all prescribing organisations across the UK.
Motion by EAST MIDLANDS REGIONAL COUNCIL: That this meeting is concerned about the disjointed workforce planning for the NHS over the last few years. Rising workloads, increasing complexity of patients, and recruitment freezes, combined with shrinking training posts for resident doctors is causing significant pressure across the NHS and is detrimental to our patients. We call on the BMA to work with Royal Colleges to lobby Government to:- i) develop workforce plans that commit to the expansion of consultant and SAS posts to meet patient demand; ii) develop workforce plans that increase funding to General Practice for principal and salaried GPs; iii) significantly increase the number of training posts available for resident doctors; iv) require doctor shortages are filled with doctors, and not other healthcare professionals; v) commit to ensure that non-doctor healthcare professionals currently filling doctor rota gaps are replaced by doctors.
Motion by GATESHEAD DIVISION: That this meeting notes the proposed changes to the assisted dying bill and:- i) affirms the right of all healthcare professionals to decline involvement in assisted dying; ii) believes that assisted dying must never be seen as a cheaper alternative to high-quality state-funded public services, and that funding for assisted dying is matched by additional funding for palliative care, mental health, and social care services; iii) demands that the cost of any proposed assisted dying service is funded by new money outwith NHS and social care funding; iv) demands that safeguards are implemented to avoid the risk of coercive control when patients consider assisted dying; v) believes that any patient requesting assisted dying should be encouraged to attend face-to-face reviews by an independent palliative care doctor to ensure that the patient has received the best quality outcomes prior to commencement of the assisted dying pathway.
Motion by CARDIFF AND VALE OF GLAMORGAN DIVISION: That this meeting affirms that the General Medical Council (GMC) is no longer fit for purpose and does not represent the interests of the public or the medical profession. It therefore calls for:- i) the resignation of the GMC’s chief executive and a performance review of the current senior management team; ii) a review of the appointments and appraisal processes for the GMC’s senior management team; iii) a review of the Council and its appointment processes, including considering the restoration of a medical majority on the Council; iv) the BMA to set out a vision for a reformed GMC or a new, alternative regulator and to lobby for this.
Source: BMA
Next, prioritising Brits for council housing, all employment, school places, NHS waiting lists, etcetera.
The foremost freemarketeer laissez-faire economist @dave.haddock is such a joker. Now he’s turning market protectionist….next he’ll be wanting to prioritise Brits for fruit-picking, care-working and cleaning jobs….oh, and prison places. Get a grip, Dave..