Responding to the passing of the UK Government’s Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill to the House of Lords, Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the UK RDC, said: 

"We welcome the Medical Training (prioritisation) Bill passing to the Lords which marks a progression of legislation that we believe is a step forward in addressing the doctors’ jobs crisis and rightfully prioritising UK graduates.

"However, without creating thousands of training posts, thousands of UK graduates will continue to be rejected from specialty training each year.

"We also need better terms, progression and secure contracts for both UK graduates and internationally trained doctors in locally-employed roles as a result of these training bottlenecks.

"This legislation alone will not fix the critical shortfall facing our health service and the deliver the workforce patients urgently need, but it signals the government is engaging seriously with the scale of the problem."

Notes to editors

The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK.