latest health care news

01.09.17

NHS England offers agencies £100m for overseas GP recruitment effort

NHS England is planning on paying agencies £100m to help with the recruitment of around 5,000 additional GPs before April 2020, half of which are expected to come from overseas.

In a contract tender, the organisation revealed it is prepared to pay a maximum of eight agencies to support its major recruitment drive, which forms part of commitments announced in the GP Forward View.

The Five Year Forward View aims to deliver 5,000 new doctors by 2020, and a key part of the GP Forward View is to recruit a proportion of these from overseas starting from autumn this year.

The tender has now confirmed that between 2,000 and 3,000 of those new doctors may be recruited from overseas, although this is an approximate number that is subject to change.

Via the £100m contract, the agencies will be required to deliver comprehensive recruitment services alongside non-clinical training and relocation services. Bids from single organisations, consortia and special purpose vehicles are all permitted.

Interested parties have until 22 September to apply.

Dr Steve Mowle, honorary treasurer for the Royal College of GPs, said the plan to hire thousands of doctors from overseas “is a bold step, which if successful will make a real difference in reaching this target”.

“Ultimately, we need all pledges made in the GP Forward View – including £2.4bn extra a year for general practice, 5,000 more GPs, and 5,000 more members of the practice team – to be delivered in full and as a matter of urgency,” he added.

“We are also calling for GPs to be added to the Migration Advisory Committee’s shortage occupation list, to make it easier for family doctors from overseas who want to live here and work in UK general practice to do so.”

And Gus Tugendhat, head of Tussell, a company that compiles data of public procurement, told the Financial Times that the contracts formed the biggest-ever NHS tender for international hiring since October 2014 – and were symptomatic of the government’s policymaking challenges in a post-Brexit world.

“There is an inherent conflict between the need to hire international staff in order to maintain public services and the Brexit-related agenda of reducing immigration,” he told the paper.

But Dr Arvind Madan, NHS England’s primary care director, played down these suggestions, arguing that the health service “has a proud history of ethically employing international medical professionals, with one in five GPs currently coming from overseas”.

(Top image c. sturti)

Comments

There are no comments. Why not be the first?

Add your comment

national health executive tv

more videos >

featured articles

View all News

last word

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad, president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), sits down with National Health Executive as part of our Last Word Q&A series. Would you talk us throu more > more last word articles >

health service focus

View all News

comment

NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

23/09/2019NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

Reason to celebrate as NHS says watching rugby can be good for your mental ... more >
Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

21/06/2019Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

Taking time to say thank you is one of the hidden pillars of a society. Bei... more >

interviews

Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

24/10/2019Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

Today, speaking at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annual... more >

the scalpel's daily blog

Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

28/08/2020Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers & Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Confederation The common enemy of coronavirus united the public side by side wi... more >
read more blog posts from 'the scalpel' >