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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken to ascertain whether Staff and Associate Specialist doctors are invited to apply for NHS posts which go to overseas consultants recruited to work in the UK. [183208] Mr. Hutton: [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The appointment procedure for consultants working in the national health service is set out in the National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 and also the Good Practice Guidance 1996. These require an open and competitive process that should ensure consistent procedures are observed and that all candidates have an equal opportunity when applying and being interviewed for a consultant post. The only consultant posts which are exclusively available for international candidates, which is done after attempts have been made to fill them in the United Kingdom, are posts advertised under the NHS international fellowships scheme, which aims to recruit eminent consultants from abroad for two year placements in hard-to-fill specialities. In order to be eligible to apply for consultant posts, doctors must be on the specialist register held by the General Medical Council. If doctors in the staff and associate specialist grades are on the specialist register, they are therefore eligible to apply for consultant posts. Most staff and associate specialist grade doctors are not on the specialist register and are therefore not eligible to apply for such posts. However, two initiatives are currently being taken forward that will increase the opportunities for these doctors to progress to the specialist register. These are the establishment of the postgraduate medical education training board and the proposals for reform set out in the consultation document, "Choice and Opportunity".

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

183208; 423 c1101-2W;423 c1101W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Applications Consultants Doctors Hospitals Eligibility NHS Recruitment Vacancies

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk