Reviewing Specialty Training for General Practice
The Department of Health (DH) has commissioned
the RCGP to produce a business case for Medical Education England
on the extension of specific specialty training for general
practice from three years to five years.
This extension was recommended in the Tooke
Report on the Independent Inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers
(Aspiring to Excellence).
The final report, outlining a number of
options and analysis of the associated costs and benefits, was
lodged with the DH by the College in January, 2010.
The Tooke Inquiry Report recommended that
post-Foundation Programme specialty training for general practice
should be extended to a minimum of five years. The report, together
with the Darzi reports on the future of the NHS, contrasts
Government aims of moving more patient care into primary care with
the training currently required for a GP to achieve Certificate of
Completion of Training (CCT) status.
Training for general practice in the UK is
currently a minimum of three years, of which twelve months must be
spent training in the general practice setting. The RCGP would like
to see GP training to be extended from three years to five.
An Interim Report was sent to the DH in
November 2008
Download (140KB)
After this, the College undertook another
process of collating data and further engagement with other
stakeholders, including the Committee of General Practice Education
Directors (COGPED), health economists, the British Medical
Association (BMA) and Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans of
the United Kingdom (COPMeD) before compiling the final report.
A consultation on the proposals contained in
the report will be undertaken by the DH.
Project Document Links
Project Brief: Setting out
the Extended GP Training Project (EGPT) aims and objectives -
Download (127KB) 
Interim
Report: RCGP Interim Report on the
business case -
Download (140KB)
EGPT Presentation: Makes the
case for extending GP training to five years - Download
(586KB)
EGPT Project work with medical
students: Email sent to members of the RCGP Student Forum
showing the work of the RCGP with medical students -
Download (80.6KB)
Enquiries about the project can be directed
to: reviewofspecialtytraining@rcgp.org.uk