BMA meeting: Trainee GPs face job shortage after qualifying

“Large numbers” of trainee GPs are finding a lack of jobs to apply for when they qualify, representatives at the BMA’s annual meeting heard on Monday.

Members agreed to press the association to carry out an immediate investigation into the number of trainees in this situation, the number retiring, and the supply of substantive posts.

They also called for a media campaign to highlight the “plight of unemployed, fully qualified general practitioners.”

Alex Smallwood, from the Junior Doctors Committee, said that about 2300 trainee GPs were coming through each year and that this was set to rise to 3100. But anecdotal evidence indicated that the number of jobs advertised was 400-500 short of this figure.

And despite pressure …