Will the Cabinet Secretary outline whether the Welsh NHS has been allocating placeholder roles to final year medical students, and if so, how many have been allocated?
After completing an undergraduate medical degree, in order to complete the next part of their training as a doctor, graduates are required to undertake a two-year foundation training programme. This comprises of foundation year one (F1) and foundation year two (F2). After successful completion of F1, graduates can apply for full registration with the GMC.
The foundation programme is a two-year generic training programme for medical school graduates, designed to bridge the gap between undergraduate study and postgraduate medical specialty training.
Currently all home nations match the output of their medical schools ensuring foundation places are available for all UK graduates.
Recruitment to the foundation programme is a fair and open competitive selection process for UK and non-UK medical graduates, which is overseen by the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO). It manages the recruitment on behalf of the four statutory education health bodies (SEBs) and does not determine programme numbers across the UK. The next application process will commence in autumn 2024. Decisions affecting the number of places offered are taken on a four-nation basis and are addressed at the UK Medical Education Reference Group (UKMERG).
Recruitment to the foundation programme is a UK-wide process and the programme is currently oversubscribed, so each UK nation is allocated a proportion of the oversubscribed applicants. Allocation to the 450 foundation posts in Wales has been completed, but there are approximately 35 people on a placeholder list awaiting final allocation to foundation posts in Wales.
All individuals are guaranteed a post, and it is anticipated they will be allocated over the next few weeks. The foundation school at Health Education and Improvement Wales maintains close contact with those individuals throughout the process.