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 review workforce speciality training allocations in the NHS; and if he will take steps to increase the number of (a) training posts and (b) permanent positions for newly qualified doctors in (i) General Practice, (ii) sexual health, (iii) haematology specialties and (iv) other positions.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. The Plan also sets out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need.

In acknowledgement of doctors’ concerns about jobs and access to training places, the Government made an offer to the British Medical Association’s Resident Doctors Committee to double the previously announced increase in specialty training places in the 10-Year Health Plan to 2,000, bringing 1,000 of these forward to next year, create an alternative training pathway, and take steps to prioritise UK medical graduates and doctors with significant NHS experience for specialty posts. The new specialty training posts will focus on specialties where there is greatest need. On top of this commitment, NHS England has already made changes to the specialty training application process this year to reduce competition and support UK graduates.

The Government has committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) and has increased the number of available GP training places by an additional 250 from September 2025. This brings the total number of GP training places to 4,250 per year.

As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is for GPs to determine how they run their operations, including staffing arrangements.

We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

Since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,500 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them graduating into unemployment. This was a measure to respond to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.