Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage young doctors to join the armed forces.

The recruitment of doctors into the Armed Forces comes from two main streams. The first is those joining as students, in University or at a later point whilst they are still under training and are unaccredited. Recruiting at an early stage affords an opportunity to embed an understanding of the different service environments.

Armed Forces recruitment organisations are focused on attracting medical personnel. For doctors this includes briefings at all of the UK's Medical Schools and regular publicity in professional journals. Financial support to medical students in their final three years at University, via a salary or bursary scheme, provides a significant financial incentive, and guarantees a minimum period of service after graduation.

The second stream is direct entrants who join the Armed Forces as accredited General Practitioners (GPs) or Consultants. A 'golden hello' of £50,000 is available to incentivise recruitment in shortfall specialties, filling capability gaps that would otherwise take many years to fill, due to the long training pathway.

The recruitment of doctors into the Reserves is focussed at those who are already accredited or are specialty trainees, but junior doctors are also encouraged to join. The Ministry of Defence works closely with the National Health Service at national and trust level to ensure a positive environment for Reserve recruitment.