What's it about?
The RCP is campaigning to make sure that the UK has a medical workforce that meets the needs of patients.
'We will campaign for an increase in the number of medical students and we will also make the case for publicly available data on the number of staff needed relative to patient demand. We will work with others to improve the experience of training and employment to improve retention and morale and to make the UK attractive and accessible to doctors and trainees from overseas. We will encourage more opportunities for participation in medicine and support work to tackle racism and other forms of discrimination in medicine. We will promote better multidisciplinary team working and a safe, reflective learning culture.'
Agreed at RCP Council, 2022
Workforce is the biggest challenge facing the NHS
Our population is ageing, more people are living with multiple health conditions and health inequality is growing. The NHS is treating more patients than ever before, but the supply of doctors and other healthcare staff has not kept up with rising patient demand.
The RCP’s 2023 UK consultant physician census found that 59% of UK consultant physicians reported having at least one vacant consultant post in their department and 62% reported daily or weekly trainee rota gaps when on acute duty over the past year. Too few staff means it takes longer for patients to get the right care. It also has an impact on existing staff – according to the 2023 RCP census, 33% said they worked excessive hours.
We need to train more doctors and retain more of the hardworking staff we already have. Retention must be a priority, including by creating more flexible and supportive working environments, with time off for significant life events, getting rotas in good time, improved IT equipment, access to affordable and flexible childcare and time for research and teaching. There are things we can do: our 2022 RCP view on the NHS workforce set out a range of short and medium-term solutions to make a difference now and according to the RCP 2023 census, improved IT systems, reduced clinical workload and an increased workforce are the top 3 things that would make the biggest difference to job satisfaction.
What is the RCP doing?
The RCP first called to double medical school places in 2018, and throughout 2021 and 2022 was instrumental in bringing together over 100 health and care organisations to campaign for independently verified projections of the staff needed now and in the future.
The RCP welcomed the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) as an important first step towards a sustainably staffed NHS. We particularly welcomed the announcement of an expansion of medical school places and postgraduate training places, as well as a commitment to publishing independently verified projections every two years.
The 2025 revision of the LTWP must set out more detail on expanding medical school places (including plans for increasing educator and supervisor capacity) and be stronger on retention. We need to see more granular data to model the postgraduate medical specialty places needed to meet patient demand. The RCP is also calling for projections for growth in the physician associate (PA) role to be reviewed in response to the concerns of the medical community, with an overall commitment to limit the expansion of PA roles.
The Next Generation of physicians
In Autumn 2024, we launched our NextGenPhysicians campaign following the RCP’s Shape of medicine paper the previous year which promised to explore how we might improve the experience of medical training.Â
We’ve established an oversight group and launched a blog series showcasing the experiences of early career doctors. Following consultation with the NextGen Oversight Group, RCP Resident Doctor Committee and RCP Student Foundation Doctor Network, the RCP has agreed five key workstreams for its NextGen work covering training and workforce planning, working environment and culture, recruitment and entry into training, the role of a doctor and career progression and alternative paths.
The RCP is also calling for a root-and-branch review of postgraduate medical training that looks at how doctors will want to work and train in the future, and explores how patient demand, demographics and healthcare needs are likely to change in the next few decades.
Physician associates
The RCP has been calling on NHS England to limit the pace and scale of the rollout of the physician associate role since March 2024, when our Fellows voted overwhelmingly in favour of a slowdown in the expansion of the PA role.
The RCP believes that there is a limited role for physician associates (PAs) working in hospitals in the medical specialities if they are supported by clear supervision arrangements, professional regulation, and a nationally agreed scope of practice.
