UK
£73 Million for new Junior Doctor Training Programme in UK
By DH, UK
Mar 23, 2005, 19:40

New funding for the implementation of innovative new training programmes for junior doctors was announced today by John Hutton, Minister of State for Health.

A two-year Foundation Programme will be introduced in August as part of the Modernising Medical Careers initiative.

Mr Hutton said: “These extra resources will help ensure the new Foundation Programmes provide the best possible start to doctors’ postgraduate training. MMC will be full and properly resourced. Investing in the training of doctors for the future will pay huge dividends to the NHS and the quality of the care it provides. I’m particularly pleased that we will be able to offer placements in general practice.”

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson said: "The new Foundation Programme which implements the proposals in my report, Unfinished Business, represents a new dawn for doctors in the early stages of training. We now have the funding to make sure it happens".

Every postgraduate trainee can expect a structured programme of managed education. It will allow them to experience training placements not previously accessible, such as academic medicine and smaller specialties. Most importantly, it will provide a placement in general practice for just over half the trainees in the first year. This will rise significantly the following year as general practice placements are expected to be both popular and educationally effective - £27 million will be released in 2006/07, with the remainder released for the 2007/08 year.

Professor Sir Alan Craft, Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal colleges said “This is excellent news. Doctors in general have welcomed the new MMC arrangements, but we have all been concerned that funding would not be available. It is a really welcome announcement and I’m pleased that MMC is making progress.”

The Foundation Programme is just the first in a series of landmark changes to postgraduate medical education being developed as part of the Modernising Medical Careers initiative.


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