BMA criticises plan to make new doctors work in NHS for at least five years

Doctors’ leaders have criticised government plans that could see doctors being forced to work in the NHS for at least five years after completing their training in England. Ministers proposed the idea in a consultation on expanding the medical workforce, launched on Tuesday 14 March.1

Doctors might also have to pay back some of their training costs if they did not stay in the NHS, as part of a “return of service agreement” that could mirror the system used in the armed forces.

England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that increasing the supply of “home grown” clinicians would help to create a “self sufficient” workforce, easing reliance on agency staff and doctors from …