Funding threat to five year GP training

29 October 2010

PROPOSALS to increase GP training from three to five years may be ignored due to funding shortages, the GMC has said.

GMC chief executive Niall Dickson told GP newspaper that an extension was “unlikely” because of the current financial climate.

A recent survey by the council highlighted concerns amongst GP trainers that on average 10 per cent of their trainees were not displaying the expected competencies for their level of training. And half of trainers agreed that the current batch of trainees were less confident and less able to work independently than when they were trainees themselves.

But despite the results, Mr Dickson told GP that he did not have the evidence to conclude that longer GP training would solve this problem.

The RCGP has long campaigned for five-year GP-training. They say it would “ensure GPs’ clinical decision making, understanding of secondary care, ability to commission and manage resources and facilitate patient choice will be greatly enhanced.”

RCGP chairman Professor Steve Field also supported an extension, saying: “In the future, training should be longer.” He defended current training by saying that “standards remain high” but added: “Young GPs need more support and training opportunities. The feedback is that while trainees are technically competent, they need more confidence and exposure to patients.” He also called for all GP trainees to be guaranteed paediatric placements, which currently only applies to trainees in the Mersey region.