Should there be apprentice doctors in the NHS?

[butterscotch]

There’s a new plan to create an apprentice doctor program where the apprentice won’t have to go to medical school.

Would you be comfortable going to a doctor that has had apprentice training but not been to medical school?

Apprentice-doctor roles may be rolled out as part of the government’s plan to fill NHS staffing gaps in England.

NHS trusts will be given funding to run the five-year apprenticeship roles under the proposals.

At the end of the programme, the apprentices will become junior doctors, providing an alternative to the traditional medical-degree route.

It is part of a package of measures that could be introduced under the NHS workforce plan.

It means school leavers will be able to enrol to become doctors without having to pay to go to university - it is not uncommon for medical students to graduate with debts above £80,000, according to the British Medical Association.

Apprentice doctors considered in radical NHS plan

[LongDriver]

Maybe, but first I would have to know exactly what the so called ‘apprenticeship training’ entails. We do have many advanced nurse prescribing practitioners, so in theory, I could be persuaded. I share my home (FOC) with two such highly intelligent young ladies while they save for a house deposit and I would trust either one as I know their level and dedication.

[swimfeeders]

Hi

Yes, a really good idea.

[Graham]

No doctor would ever be allow to practice unless their experience and qualifications give them adequate competence to allow them to attend to someone. If someone died or suffered due to malpractice/incompetence, they and the health authority could be liable for all sorts of litigation.

I doubt for one minute that this is a “short cut” to practice medicine, but an alternative route to achieve the necessary level of training to be able to practice safely.

[Maree]

I think it would be OK as longing as there’s proper training and supervision

Maybe the same could be done with dentists too, to solve the NHS shortage

[AnnieS]

They will be constantly having to check with qualified doctors. I think this will put a further strain on the system.

[RoseRed]

Excellent idea. Remember when old style nurses, SENs trained on the wards? I had a few friends who entered the nursing profession like this.

There was a Doctor on TV this morning who said he first heard about this idea last year and he and some mates discussed it and thought it wouldn’t work. He has now considered it more carefully and thinks it could well work. He was quite positive about it.

[Omah]

Apprentice doctors considered in radical NHS plan

Vanessa Wilson, of the University Alliance, said while apprenticeships offered a “high-quality training option”, there were challenges expanding them in the NHS.

“Degree apprenticeships are currently mired in excessive bureaucracy and tied up in complex regulation,” she said.

“Government and NHS England will have to work very closely with universities to address these issues if degree apprenticeships are going to be the solution to the workforce crisis.”

I’d like to know what the minimum qualifications for an apprentice doctor would be …

[Ripple]

Anything would be better than now especially, if you happen to live in Winton Bournemouth where all the GPS at Winton health centre are retiring this July

Thousands left to find GP as Bournemouth surgery set to close

[AnnieS]

@Omah

I’d like to know what the minimum qualifications for an apprentice doctor would be

An ability to use the google search engine effectively?

Just thinking - perhaps we could all train as doctors? after all we are great at giving each other health advice!

[Muddy]

I expect it would be the same as it is now three or four high grade A levels in science subjects .
There are plenty of intelligent young people who would like to take this opportunity .

[LongDriver]

@Muddy

There are plenty of intelligent young people who would like to take this opportunity

Agreed, and now we need the politicians to take the whole matter seriously and get the scheme off the ground.
If I had my time again I would break away from civil engineering and head towards emergency medicine specialising in spinal injuries. . . they shall walk again

[Muddy]

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could .

[Rox]

I always say that once a doctor is fully trained by the NHS that he/she should have to stay and work in one of our hospitals for a couple of years, giving something back before waltzing off into private work or abroad.
After a few years once it got going and doctors were leaving, there would be replacements coming in to take their place, then our shortage would be taken care of.