GP leaders have spoken against NHS England’s intention to cut funding for recruitment of GP trainees in under-doctored areas.
The RCGP has written to the commissioner asking for a guarantee that the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) will continue to be funded for 2025/26 and beyond.
The national incentive programme funds £20,000 salary supplements to attract trainee GPs to work in areas of the country where training places have been unfilled for a number of years.
The college argued that cutting this funding would be ‘a major step backwards’ for the Government’s manifesto commitment to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy across the UK.
RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said that it was ‘alarming’ to see the scheme ‘under threat’.
She said: ‘The TERS has successfully attracted thousands of GP trainees to work in areas that they might previously not have considered, and which desperately need more GPs.
‘It has led to clear benefits, including improved patient access, continuity of care, and long-term workforce retention.’
In the summer, a survey from the college found that half of the GP trainees qualifying were still looking for work, with over one third struggling to find an ‘appropriate role’.
And separate research from the college also found that GPs in deprived areas care for almost 2,500 patients per head, which is over 300 more than those in more affluent areas.
Professor Hawthorne added: ‘We would argue that almost all areas are under-doctored to some extent, and we are still in the middle of a UK-wide workforce crisis, but this situation is especially acute in deprived areas – a GP in Kingston upon Thames looks after 1,800 patients while a GP in Kingston upon Hull, one of the most deprived places in England, is expected to cover twice that number.
‘This scheme encourages our excellent GP trainees to take roles in more deprived areas of the country, put down roots and become part of the community.
‘Cutting this funding would be a major step backwards for the Government’s manifesto commitment to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy across the UK. The continuation of TERS is important if we are to attract and retain GPs in these areas and truly tackle health inequalities for our patients.’
An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘We have made significant progress in attracting GP trainees to areas of the country that have traditionally been hard to recruit to and we are fully committed to making sure that all areas of the country have the number of GPs they need.
‘It is essential that every penny of taxpayers money delivers the best possible impact for patients, and budgets for NHS workforce schemes in 2025/26 are still to be announced following the publication of planning guidance and the NHS Mandate this week.’
A major Pulse investigation published this week has looked into recruitment problems in under-doctored areas, finding that practices in more affluent areas have a higher number of GPs and clinical staff per patient than those in the most deprived areas.
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