XPost: uk.politics.misc, alt.politics.uk   
   From: d@ray   
      
   The UK now has more doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds than white   
   doctors, while numbers of non-UK graduates in GP training continue to rise,   
   GMC figures have shown.   
      
   In its latest annual report on the medical workforce, the regulator   
   revealed that the number of non-UK graduate doctors in training increased   
   across all specialties, but ‘especially’ in general practice.   
      
   The percentage of international medical graduates (IMGs) in GP training   
   rose from 34% in 2019 to 52% in 2023, making it the highest proportion of   
   all specialty training programmes.   
      
   Since the demographics of the training cohort is a good predictor of the   
   fully qualified GP workforce, the GMC forecasted that ‘general practice   
   will have higher proportion of non-UK graduates in future’.   
      
   The regulator emphasised the importance of IMGs in general practice being   
   ‘integrated to supportive teams’ and having access to ‘the same   
   opportunities for career progression as other doctors’.   
      
   ‘Doing so will aid retention and ensure the UK’s general practice systems   
   operate at their best,’ the GMC report said.   
      
   Last year, in the same report for 2023, the GMC argued that the NHS must   
   address why general practice is less attractive to UK graduates.   
      
   Overall figures showed that between 2016 and 2023, the number of doctors on   
   the medical register from an ethnic minority background increased by 78%.   
      
   This means 2023 was the ‘first time’ that ethnic minority doctors have   
   outnumbered white doctors, which the GMC said ‘further emphasises’ the need   
   for ‘zero tolerance of discrimination’ in the UK’s healthcare systems.   
      
   The report said: ‘Doctors joining from abroad have driven the headcount of   
   doctors to grow at the fastest rate recorded in the 13 years that the state   
   of medical education and practice has published.   
      
   ‘This is the main reason that ethnic minority doctors are now a larger   
   component of the workforce than white doctors.’   
      
   Pointing to the fast growth of locally employed doctors (LEDs), the GMC   
   also warned that the UK ‘risks wasting the talents of tens of thousands of   
   overlooked and undervalued doctors’.   
      
   The number of LEDs grew by 75% between 2019 and 2023 in England and Wales,   
   compared to only a 9% growth in doctors on the GP register over the same   
   period.   
      
   These doctors are in roles which are ‘too often poorly defined with limited   
   opportunities for career progression and training’, the GMC argued.   
      
   Last year, NHS England’s long-term workforce strategy confirmed plans for   
   ‘doctors other than GPs’ to be able to work in primary care ‘more   
   easily’.   
      
   The strategy said that LEDs are a ‘rapidly growing group’ and that NHSE   
   will work with partners to ‘identify ways to better support postgraduate   
   career progression’ for this group.   
      
   In 2022, the GMC pushed for a change to the medical performers list to   
   allow non-GP doctors to provide primary medical services, and chief   
   executive Charlie Massey later said there is a ‘sizeable’ pool of SAS   
   doctors ‘itching’ to work in general practice.   
      
   Dr Karen Ellison, medico-legal services lead at the Medical Protection   
   Society, said the GMC’s findings on the number of IMGs means ‘it is more   
   important than ever’ to ‘properly support these doctors from the moment   
   they arrive in the UK’.   
      
   She also said: ‘Despite their essential role in the healthcare system,   
   locally employed doctors are often undervalued and continue to face   
   challenges particularly due to the lack of career opportunities. Medical   
   Protection backs the SAS Collective’s calls to supporting these doctors by   
   providing better access to training opportunities and career progression.’   
      
   Suzie Bailey, director of leadership and organisational development at The   
   King’s Fund, said the NHS ‘would not be able to function without its   
   international workforce’ and the medical profession ‘is more reliant than   
   other staff groups on overseas recruits’.   
      
   She added: ‘ Ethical international recruitment is essential to fill staff   
   shortages in the short term given the time it takes to train staff.   
      
   ‘However, to provide the number of staff the NHS needs, greater investment   
   in training and staff development will be needed, alongside improved   
   retention rates.’   
      
      
      
      
      
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