A new RCP Cymru Wales report highlights the importance of training doctors locally in north Wales as a solution to the workforce crisis.
A new RCP Cymru Wales report highlights the importance of training doctors locally in north Wales as a solution to the workforce crisis.
There is a well-known consultant doctor shortage across the whole of the UK, and the problem is particularly bad in north Wales. In 2021, over half (53%) of advertised consultant physician posts in north Wales were unsuccessful, and in most cases there were literally no applicants for the job.
Without long-term measures to increase the NHS Wales workforce, the health service will be unable to cope with the needs of an ageing population and a rise in clinical demand, especially in rural and remote areas.
With major gaps in both trainee and consultant-grade rotas in every hospital in Wales, there are simply not enough Welsh-domiciled students applying to medical school – encouraging and mentoring local sixth-formers into the new medical school in Bangor will be a vital part of the long-term solution.
"This is about helping the hundreds of state school children in north Wales with A grades who simply don’t see medicine as a viable option. They don’t understand the system, they don’t know how to play the game during the medical school interviews because they don’t have the parents or the support network to teach them. They don’t have the sense of confidence and self-belief that some children get from private school.
"It’s a lot of work, but definitely worth it. In the last cohort before COVID-19, every sixth-form student who completed the full 2-year programme in north Wales got an offer for at least one medical school."
With major gaps in both trainee and consultant-grade rotas in every hospital in Wales, there are simply not enough Welsh-domiciled students applying to medical school – encouraging and mentoring local sixth-formers into the new medical school in Bangor will be a vital part of the long-term solution.
