In this blog, DAUK’s medical student co-lead Maya Machesney congratulates the country’s new medical students and calls for urgent reform of NHS workforce planning
This September marks an exciting milestone for thousands of aspiring doctors across the UK.
We at DAUK extend our warm congratulations to every new medical student beginning their journey into medicine.
This year saw a 7.25% increase in medical school places – a welcome step towards addressing the growing demand for doctors.
NHS workforce
DAUK supports this expansion, and recognises the importance of investing in the next generation of the NHS workforce.
However, this positive development comes against a backdrop of growing concern. Without robust, forward-thinking workforce planning, many of these students risk entering a healthcare system already buckling under immense strain.
For the third consecutive year, almost 700 final-year medical students were allocated ‘placeholder’ roles through the UK Foundation Programme.
This recurring issue represents a serious structural failure in how we allocate and support our new doctors.
Bottlenecks
The challenges extend well beyond the Foundation Programme. Specialty training remains heavily bottlenecked, with thousands of junior doctors each year unable to progress due to a shortage of training posts and a lack of a consistent, strategic workforce strategy.
Many are left disillusioned – forced to delay their careers, seek alternative routes, or even consider leaving the NHS entirely.
The NHS cannot afford to continue losing talented and committed future doctors.
Urgent reform
Urgent reform is needed: transparent workforce planning, expanded training capacity, and meaningful investment in career progression for junior doctors.
We are frustrated that this is the current reality of our profession. But to every new student starting this September: we stand with you, we thank you for your commitment, and we remain hopeful that the profession you inherit will be in a better place than it is today.
Medicine is and always will be an incredibly rewarding career. We hope that – with the right reforms – it will be a sustainable and fulfilling one for you and for generations to come.
Our student committee members are all volunteers and speak about issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our our GoFundMe.
