You report that the “number of young medics applying to continue their career in the health service by becoming specialists has plunged to a new low” (Doctors training as specialists at all-time low, leaked figures show, 10 February).
The reduction in applicant numbers does not necessarily mean there will be a reduction in appointments; there are still many more applicants than posts. The reduction in applicants could be due to increasing confidence in the system, which means junior doctors are applying for the posts they want rather than making multiple applications as in previous years. We will be interviewing the same number of applicants as last year, and the number of posts available remains the same as last year. The application numbers at one stage of a multiple-stage recruitment process are not the same as final doctors in post at the end of the process. The numbers referred to in your article are for the UK, not just for England.
These are all facts that the story failed to reflect and are important context.
It is also very important not to confuse the number of applications with our ultimate goal, which is filling available posts by appointing the number of doctors in training that will allow us to provide safe, high-quality care to patients.
Health Education England is responsible for the delivery of national recruitment into specialty training, working in partnership with Royal Colleges and the devolved administrations. In recent years HEE has successfully been able to improve and simplify the administration of the recruitment process for doctors in training such that the number of multiple applications received for specialty training has reduced significantly – application numbers reduced from over 120,000 in 2005 to circa 16,000 in 2016.
Professor Ian Cumming
Chief executive, Health Education England
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