Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent report by recruitment firm Manpower that argued that the shortage of General Practitioners cannot be addressed unless immigration rules are changed to allow the recruitment of more doctors from overseas.

The Department has acknowledged the report published by Manpower.

As at September 2014, there were 36,920 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) working and training in the National Health Service. This is an increase of 1,677 since September 2010. The Government’s mandate to Health Education England requires it to ensure that 3,250 trainees are recruited to GP training programmes each year from 2016. This mandate commitment will enable 5,000 additional doctors to be available in general practice by 2020.

The Migration Advisory Committee, an independent non-Departmental public body that advises the Government on migration issues, consulted with stakeholders in the health sector and concluded that GPs should not be included on the national shortage occupation list. However, international recruitment of GPs under Tier 2 of the immigration points-based system continues to be an option for employers where genuine and continued difficulties exist in meeting demand from domestic and European Economic Area supply.