Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage more medical students to consider careers as general practitioners across the UK.

NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) and the British Medical Association GP Committee are working closely together to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice.

To encourage medical graduates to consider general practice as a career, the four organisations will conduct a campaign this summer targeted at recruitment to GP training in the autumn. The campaign will include a joint letter to all newly qualified doctors setting out the positive aspects and future of a career in general practice.

The Government’s mandate to HEE requires them to ensure that 3,250 trainee doctors enter GP training programmes by 2016. This will enable further increases in the GP workforce across England.

Transforming Primary Care set out the intention to make available around 10,000 primary and community health and care professionals by 2020, in support of the shift in how care will be provided. Bringing forward substantial numbers of new GPs through training is a key part of this.