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NHS England releases extra funding to boost GP workforce across Yorkshire coast and Humber

NHS England has announced a new wave of funding to recruit talented doctors from overseas for GP practices in Hull, East Riding, Scarborough and North and North East Lincolnshire.

As part of NHS England’s International GP Recruitment Programme, more than £2 million has been committed to recruit additional GPs for GP practices in the regional areas.

While GP training places are increasing year-on-year and many GPs are returning to practice, many practices continue to face recruitment issues, and newly qualified GPs are often locuming rather than joining a practice as a permanent GP. Some older GPs are leaving the profession early. This is leaving a gap between the number of doctors practices want, and the numbers they are successfully recruiting and retaining.

Geoff Day, Head of Primary Care Commissioning at NHS England (North Yorkshire and the Humber) said: “We’re delighted to be announcing this extra funding to recruit talented doctors from overseas to work in general practice in England. We see this as an important project and it is part of a number of initiatives we are supporting to build capacity and resilience into primary care, such as recruiting more clinical pharmacists to be based in GP practices, and developing the GP Career Plus scheme encouraging GPs to continue in practice.”

Dr Dan Roper, Chair of NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “NHS Hull CCG is a fully committed member of this partnership and we look forward to welcoming as many new GPs as possible from both home and abroad. This scheme gives us the opportunity to attract and recruit high quality graduates from the EEA and allows us to promote the benefits of living in this exciting, beautiful and up and coming area.”

As part of the General Practice Forward View, NHS England is reversing the historic underinvestment in general practice. An extra £2.4 billion will be invested nationally into general practice each year – a 14% real terms rise by 2021.

There will be at least 10,000 more staff working in general practice by 2020/21 – 5,000 more doctors and 5,000 other staff like clinical pharmacists, nurses, and physicians associates. It will mean bigger teams of staff providing a wider range of care options for patients and freeing up more time for GPs to focus on those with more complex needs.

Find out more about the International GP Recruitment Programme and NHS England’s General Practice Forward View.