Royal College of Emergency Medicine Menu Menu

RCEM welcomes RCP call for an increase in medical school places

7 January 2020

Responding to the Royal College of Physicians’ report ‘Double or quits: a blueprint for expanding medical school places‘, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Katherine Henderson said:

“It has never been more apparent than during the pandemic that the NHS is short of clinical staff, and we welcome the call from the Royal College of Physicians for a doubling of medical school places.

“The staff we do have have been working to their limits for years now and not just during the pandemic. The fact that they have managed to tap into even deeper reserves of resilience in the last nine months is just remarkable. But we cannot – and should not be expected to – go on like this forever.

“More staff to share the load will help to reduce pressure on existing staff, reduce rates of burnout and lead to fewer doctors dropping out of the profession.

“Emergency Medicine is short of 2,770 doctors UK wide, but all specialties are under-staffed. In England alone we want to see an increase numbers entering EM training by at least 120 per year to address the deficits in WTE trainees caused by increased flexibility in training in the short term and Consultant shortages in the longer term.

“Not only would a doubling of training places help the NHS in this country in the years ahead, but it would end the reliance from recruiting the best and brightest from overseas – taking away from other health systems who need staff.”

Back to top Back to top