Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Posted by ew258
8 May 2019In the context of our department’s GP workforce research and in light of reports today that GP numbers are showing a sustained drop, Emily Fletcher introduces the ‘GMAP’ project which aims to support the UK’s ambitions to recruit GPs from overseas.
Key points:
International referencing and mapping of UK GP training curricula (GMAP)
Addressing a knowledge and information gap identified by NHS England, and working in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the GMAP project aimed to develop and pilot a method for mapping GP training and other relevant healthcare system contextual data from an overseas country to the UK, to inform future consideration of streamlined processes for overseas doctors joining the UK GP register.
Professor John Campbell leads the research team, with expert medical education input from Professor Adrian Freeman, international expertise from Dr Emma Pitchforth, project management and data collection overseen by Emily Fletcher and data collection support by Dr Leon Poltawski and Dr Jeffrey Lambert.
Background Over the last six years, the UK has experienced a worsening GP shortage in relation to recruitment and retention. Amongst a number of responses, the UK government and NHS England have sought to develop opportunities for doctors who are suitably qualified as GPs overseas to be attracted to work in the UK. In this context, for doctors outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), there is a need to ensure that their training and experience is appropriate to support them working in UK primary care.
Between the RCGP and the General Medical Council, the ‘Certificate of Eligibility for GP Registration’ (CEGPR) process examines whether doctors have equivalent experience to UK-trained GPs. However, CEGPR is cumbersome, and NHS England commissioned GMAP to develop a method for determining whether a streamlined process for assessing doctors from certain countries was possible.
Method Developing the method involved a number of stages. Our final approach to comparing training and experience of GPs who have trained outside of the UK involved mapping five specific domains: (i) the healthcare context, (ii) the GP training pathway, (iii) the GP curriculum, (iv) Assessment processes, and (v) ongoing continuing professional development and revalidation.
Pilot We published a paper in the BJGP Open in April which outlines the development of the method and its application to a pilot case study site: Australia. We concluded that implementing this systematic method for mapping GP training between countries may support the UK’s ambitions to recruit more GPs and alleviate current GP workforce pressures.
Application Since developing the method, we have gone on to apply the mapping to more countries (South Africa, Canada, and the United States of America) to further support NHS England’s overseas recruitment programme. We are also currently applying the mapping process to GP training in New Zealand.
Mapping these additional countries will inform further considerations of the CEGPR process by the RCGP and GMC as to whether streamlining can be introduced for GPs/family physicians from these countries wishing to enter UK general practice.
My reflections
Whilst GMAP is very different to other research undertaken by our department, it has been hugely interesting and challenging to undertake, and with the added bonus of being of immediate use to NHS England, the RCGP and the GMC. Sadly (for me) no field trips have been required (!) but in writing up the findings for each country I have been fortunate to speak to contacts in each setting who have been generous in giving their time to help refine our interpretations.
Overseas recruitment is hardly the wholesale answer to the UK GP workforce crisis. However, it is important to draw the various strings of our GP workforce research together, and overseas recruitment is one of the many approaches to alleviating the pressure.
Research Fellow
e.fletcher@exeter.ac.uk, @emilyfletcher1
References