RCGP and BMA to be consulted on UK medical graduates prioritisation

The BMA and the RCGP are going to be consulted on how NHS experience will be recognised in new legislation to prioritise UK medical graduates.

The Government has decided to introduce emergency legislation so that prioritisation for UK medical graduates for foundation and speciality places can be implemented during the current application process.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill was introduced to Parliament yesterday and intends to:

• prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training places;
• prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with ‘significant NHS experience’ for specialty training places.

The bill is UK-wide and has been drafted ‘in close partnership’ with devolved governments, and Government said it plans to undertake ‘a listening exercise’ to gather views from stakeholders to agree how NHS experience will be recognised from 2027 onwards.

For the UK foundation programme, the bill requires that places are allocated first to applicants with a UK primary medical qualification, and other priority groups, before being allocated to other applicants.

For specialty training the bill sets prioritisation criteria from 2026 and gives the Government the ability to change how they define ‘significant NHS experience’ from 2027.

NHS England said that for speciality places the aim is to prioritise those applicants who have spent ‘substantial time working here as a doctor’; who have ‘demonstrated long-term commitment to the NHS’ and who ‘best understand the health needs of the UK population’.

In response, the RCGP said that it was ‘critical’ to recognise that international medical graduates (IMGs) make up over 50% of GP registrars and ‘make vital contributions’ to the NHS.

The college also said that increasing the number of GP training places must be ‘a key priority’ for the Government alongside any changes to allocation prioritisation.

In a document answering the most frequently asked questions about the bill, NHS England said: ‘Internationally trained doctors make a huge contribution and will continue to do so. If passed, the Bill will also enable us to prioritise internationally trained doctors with significant NHS experience, and we are not excluding anyone from applying for training places, they just won’t be prioritised.

‘We plan to undertake a listening exercise to gather views from key stakeholders. We will confirm who these stakeholders are in due course but would expect them to include the British Medical Association (BMA), employers, regulators, Royal Colleges, the devolved administrations, organisations representing international medical graduates and others.’

RCGP chair Professor Victoria Tzortziou-Brown said the college will continue to support IMG members and highlighted that resolutions to short term bottlenecks must be delivered in a fair manner ‘which protects the highest standards for entry into GP training’.

She added: ‘In addition, once an international GP completes training in the UK, we believe that this should qualify them to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK rather than having to go through the process of finding a practice to sponsor their visa, which currently creates barriers to staying to work in general practice.

‘Increasing the number of GP training places must be a key priority for the Government alongside any changes to allocation prioritisation.

‘We need to see action to address barriers to expansion including a shortage of trainers and space in GP practices for trainees. We also need to ensure there are enough appropriate roles available in the NHS for newly qualified GPs, so our workforce sees the boost in numbers that our patients need.’

Prioritisation for UK medical graduates has previously been backed by the BMA, with doctor leaders voting in favour of guarantee all UK medical school graduates a foundation programme post for all future recruitment cycles, as well as offering UK graduates specialty training posts first.

In its own document summarising the bill, the BMA said: ‘The BMA has called for UK graduate prioritisation to address soaring competition for places on specialty training, and to make allocation to the foundation programme a smoother experience for final year medical students (reducing the possible impact of being assigned a “placeholder” job).

‘There are, however, several differences between the government’s proposals and the BMA’s policy.    

‘The BMA policy calls for specialty training prioritisation for all international medical graduates who were GMC registered and practicing in the NHS/HSC by 5 March 2025 and who had (or who would go on to have) two years of NHS experience.’

The Government pledged to prioritise UK medical graduates for specialty training as part of the 10-year health plan last year, and said that it will ‘reorientate’ the focus of NHS recruitment away from its dependency on international recruitment.