Response to the GMC’s report

Responding to the GMC’s report ‘The state of medical education and practice in the UK’, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers said:

“This report provides disappointing news all round and will make for difficult reading for those who work closely with our doctor colleagues, and clinicians themselves.  

“There is clearly a need for long term solutions, something we hope the long-term workforce plan can facilitate, but employers have a role here, and a responsibility to make improvements in the short term.  

“This should be a call to action for employers and their clinical leaders to reflect on and review the support structures they have in place, and the report provides suggestions of areas where we should focus. We need to ensure that our current and future workforce is adequately supported so that they can enable patients to get the highest quality of service and care.

“With 112,000 vacancies within the NHS, underlying many of the issues outlined in the report is the simple fact that the workforce is spread too thinly. The imminent long-term workforce plan can address inadequate staffing issues and reinforce the actions needed in our workplaces and clinical teams.”