How will it help local populations?

We are going through a period of growth that has already seen an additional 1,500 undergraduates begin their careers at medical school. This will mean increasing numbers entering the Foundation Programme in future and more doctors starting their specialty training by 2025, helping to provide more care for patients. And while doctors in training provide services to patients and are therefore an integral part of the workforce, they are one of many parts. This provides further potential to align the numbers of doctors in training with the development of wider multi-disciplinary teams to better meet the overall healthcare needs of local populations, regardless of any specific geography. There is also good evidence that postgraduate doctors in training tend to remain in the geographical areas where they undertake their specialist training so there is a further opportunity to reverse traditional imbalances in the supply of doctors in training to certain areas.