Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help recently graduated medical students to find employment in the NHS.

Following completion of a medical degree, United Kingdom medical graduates must complete the Foundation Programme, a two-year work-based programme, to practise as a doctor in the National Health Service. We are committed to ensuring that the number of Foundation Programme places meets the demands of the NHS in the future.

The Government is committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the NHS. However, internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce.

In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade.