Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs were recruited to the NHS under the GP International recruitment scheme in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019; and what the cost to the public purse has been of that scheme.

The International GP Recruitment (IGPR) Programme was announced in August 2017 and recruitment began from April 2018. Prior to this, four pilot schemes were established between May 2016 and November 2017. The IGPR programme has now recruited over 150 doctors from overseas through the extended national programme and the pilots. These are part of the pipeline of over 350 doctors who are currently working through the Induction and Refresher scheme aimed at supporting both international general practitioners joining general practice in England and domestically trained doctors wishing to return to practice.