RCP has responded to NHS England's announcement that National Medical Director Professor Sir Stephen Powis and Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty will lead a review into postgraduate training for newly qualified medics.
Responding to the news, Royal College of Physicians' Resident Doctor Committee co-chair, Dr Anthony Martinelli, said:
"The RCP has been calling for a comprehensive review of postgraduate medical training since summer 2024, and we welcome this announcement as a first step. Our recent position statement, published as part of our NextGenPhysicians campaign, called for a review that considers rising competition ratios, and for a long-term commitment to expand training posts based on population need.
"Resident doctors are the future of our NHS, and they deserve to feel valued and supported to progress in their careers. Currently, only 1 in 4 applications to internal medicine training are successful. This means that thousands of UK doctors every year are unable to continue their medical career in an NHS training post, leaving them feeling worried and powerless. For years, the RCP campaigned for more medical school places because we know the UK needs more doctors. Now it’s time to invest in these new medical graduates to become the NHS consultants of the future – they will be the ones to deliver the government's 10 Year Plan.
"Beyond addressing recruitment and the bottlenecks in the system, the review must also tackle the broad range of concerns which are impacting the next generation of doctors. Issues affecting resident physicians range from the cost and length of postgraduate pathways to hugely variable quality of supervision, and from burnout to declining opportunities to pursue academic medicine.
"Importantly, this review cannot be another listening exercise – it must result in clear reform of the way our physicians are trained. It must enhance mechanisms to ensure the NHS delivers a high-quality educational experience that befits our future healthcare leaders and benefits our patients. We look forward to contributing to the next stage of this process and will work to keep the resident doctor voice at the centre of the conversation."