Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of medical students going into general practice.

3,019 medical students were accepted for general practice training in 2016 – the highest number in any year to date.

The ‘General Practice Forward View’, published by NHS England in April 2016, set out their plans of delivering growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. This includes work by Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of medical school graduates choosing general practice. HEE is working with the Medical Schools Council, higher education institutions, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee to increase the profile of general practice in medical schools. A working group, chaired by Professor Valerie Wass OBE, published recommendations on 8 November 2016.

HEE and the RCGP will continue to develop the current recruitment campaign to raise the profile of general practice as a career. The campaign showcases the variety of different opportunities and the flexibility of the specialty, as well as the central role that GPs play in the community and their patients’ care. HEE has recruited and trained 35 campaign ambassadors and advocates to support and promote national and regional activities including attendance at recruitment events and through social media.