Spanish GPs to fill city vacancies

Bradford City Primary Care Trust is hoping to attract the foreign family doctors as it struggles to fill 22 vacancies.

The Trust has teamed up with Wakefield West PCT and North Kirklees PCT to take advantage of an Anglo-Spanish agreement signed in 2000 by Health Secretary Alan Milburn, to recruit doctors and nurses from the EU country.

Clinical development leader for City PCT, Dr Peter Dickson, said: "Spain was selected because there is a surplus of doctors training and their training is similar to that in this country," he said. "We are talking about, at the most, four doctors to work within Bradford and eight or nine in total across three PCTs."

He added he was confident the city could attract the doctors from Spain. "This follows a successful pilot project in Liverpool and Manchester," he said. "Their experiences show the GPs do fit in.

"Before working in this country there will be a language assessment and any problems with medical language can be addressed during the induction period if necessary."

It is hoped the GPs will be in Bradford by the end of next year when they will take part in an induction period of around six months before they are found surgeries to work in.

Dr Dickson said: "At the moment we are looking for teaching practices that would host them for their induction period. We are also in the process of advertising for a co-ordinator and administrator to look after the GPs."

Dr Dickson said the PCT was tackling the question of GP shortages in a number of different ways, and 12 doctors had been recruited in the past year, 11 of whom remained in post and nine of whom were working in inner city practices. Measures to attract GPs include a 'golden hello' of up to £12,000.

"GP shortages mean practices are working under greater stress, dealing with higher numbers than they might want to," said Dr Dickson. "But it is difficult to get GPs because there is a national shortage and a city is a more difficult place to work.