New medical training posts in cancer care announced

Health Education England (HEE) has announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts are to be created this year. 

The total of 876 posts, including 270 in cancer-related specialties, with many specifically targeted to tackle health inequalities and ensure training places are distributed fairly to best meet patients’ needs in all parts of England.

Postgraduate medical training posts have previously been distributed across England based on historical arrangements - meaning they were sometimes not aligned with patient needs and did not provide the level of service required by local populations, particularly remote, rural and coastal areas.

Professor Wendy Reid, HEE director of education and quality and executive medical director said:

“The announcement of additional training posts is excellent news. Training more doctors is positive for patients and demonstrates our commitment to building a sustainable workforce at a crucial time for the NHS.

“It follows a year where we have continued to hit recruitment targets and attract more people to pursue a career in the NHS. We have seen that the number of doctors keen to join the NHS continues to rise, so it is important that we are able to reflect this with growth in our specialty training programmes.”

Photo: Arctic-Images/Stone/Getty Images