Patients to be asked what they need from doctors

The government has instructed Health Education England to consult patients and the public on what they need from “21st century” medical graduates.

The requirement is set out in the Department of Health and Social Care’s latest mandate for HEE, published on 12 July.1 Building on the interim workforce plan published in June,2 the mandate sets out the government’s ambitions for HEE over the coming year. It says that one of HEE’s “deliverables” for 2019-20 is to “launch a national consultation by November 2019 to establish what the NHS, patients and the public require from 21st century medical graduates.”

It said that this would inform an ongoing review of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training and would support the General Medical Council in shaping the medical curriculum, along with the Medical Schools Council, the medical royal colleges, NHS England and NHS Improvement, and the devolved administrations.

The government also called on HEE to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to create a “national programme board” to tackle shortages of doctors in some geographical areas and specialties. Its remit would include “planning for the distribution of increased numbers of medical graduates entering the NHS from 2022-23 and supporting NHS England/NHS Improvement in developing new staffing models for rural and coastal hospitals and general practice.”

In line with the NHS Long Term Plan, HEE has also been tasked with working with the devolved administrations to support the proposed roll-out of medical credentialing, starting with the development of a mechanical thrombectomy credential in 2019-20.3

Credentialing will enable doctors to “develop a broader range of skills and more easily adapt to changes in service requirements and patient safety practice,” the mandate said.

The government also instructed HEE to develop plans to further increase the number of medical school places and to recruit at least 3250 trainees to GP training programmes by March 2020.

In its annual report, published to coincide with the mandate, HEE said that it had recruited 3473 GPs last year.4

HEE also achieved a 100% fill rate in 25 specialty training programmes, including clinical radiology, clinical oncology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and neurosurgery. A further 36 training programmes achieved a 95% or higher fill rate, the report said.

Ian Cumming, HEE’s chief executive, said that the annual report showed progress in terms of meeting recruitment objectives, developing routes into employment, and identifying training goals for the future.

“HEE has a fundamental role to play in improving the quality of healthcare, and we look forward to the continued task of creating fulfilling lifelong careers through first class education and training,” Cumming said.