Trainee GPs in Wales will no longer be directly employed by the practice, instead they will be employed by the Welsh NHS, in a bid to encourage more doctors to work in general practice.
This “radical shake-up” will affect how trainee GPs are hired as part of their 18-month training placement in a surgery.
GP specialty trainees will be able to access expert human resource (HR) advice and support throughout their training, and by having just one employer during the training period, it should be easier to obtain mortgages and access other benefits such as childcare vouchers, Charlotte Jones, the chair of Wales General Practice Committee explained.
“For training practices, the expertise and guidance available for HR and other processes will be invaluable in ensuring they are providing the correct advice to specialty trainees and/or trainers. We also hope that this development will attract additional GP specialty trainees to come and train in Wales,” she said.
The Welsh government said the move should make a career in general practice more attractive to doctors. It follows a successful pilot of the scheme carried out in April 2014.
Mark Drakeford, health and social services minister, said: “I want Wales to be the best possible place for doctors to train and work. I am therefore very pleased to announce these changes to employment arrangements, which will see the Welsh NHS become the central employer for trainee GPs in Wales. These changes will be implemented in full as soon as possible.”
