A scheme that helps attract trainee doctors to work in economically deprived areas is at risk of being cut by NHS England, the largest membership body for family doctors has warned.
The targeted enhanced recruitment scheme (TERS) was established in 2016 to help attract trainee GPs to work in deprived areasin England by offering a one-off payment of £20,000.
Last year, the scheme had about 700 places available, and since its launch has attracted over 2,000 GPs to train in communities with poorer health outcomes.
The Royal College of GPs has said that it is “alarming” that the scheme may be cut for 2025-26, starting from April, under cost-cutting measures still being considered by NHS England.
The RCGP said that would make it more difficult to recruit GPs to work in areas where patients already face disadvantages compared with more affluent areas.
It added that although doctors are in short supply in almost all areas in England, and that there is a UK-wide workforce crisis, the situation is especially acute in deprived areas.
A family doctor in Kingston upon Thames typically looks after 1,800 patients, while a GP in Kingston upon Hull, one of the most deprived places in England, is expected to cover twice that number, according to the body.
GP practices in areas with the highest levels of deprivation have on average 300 more patients for each GP than those in more affluent areas, which can lead to long-term sickness.
The areas with the highest number of places available through the TERS scheme in England last year were Durham and Tees Valley, Dewsbury, Pontefract and Wakefield and Sherwood Forest.
The college is concerned that the funding for the scheme will be cut after two GP retention schemes were axed in the last financial year, including the general practice fellowship programme and the supporting mentors scheme.
Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The areas that will be hardest hit by the loss of this scheme are already facing troubling disadvantages, with social and economic deprivation impacting patients’ health. Having steady and lasting GP teams who can build trusting relationships with patients over time and who really understand their issues can make a big difference, reducing emergency hospital admissions and lowering mortality rates.”
She added: “The government says it wishes to close the gap in healthy life expectancy, not widen it. But if we lose schemes like this there is a serious risk of further exacerbating devastating health inequalities between patients because of where they are born and live in the country.
“TERS not only brings GPs to these communities, it also encourages GPs starting out on their careers who might be from these areas not to move away but to play a major role in their communities. It brings great value to both patients in deprived communities and the GPs who provide their care.”
A NHS spokesperson said: “We have made significant progress in attracting GP trainees to areas of the country that have traditionally been hard to recruit to and we are fully committed to making sure that all areas of the country have the number of GPs they need.
“It is essential that every penny of taxpayers money delivers the best possible impact for patients, and budgets for NHS workforce schemes in 2025/26 are still to be announced following the publication of planning guidance and the NHS mandate this week.”
