EXCLUSIVE: Hull York Medical School seek expansion to tackle GP shortage
They're submitting a bid to government.
Plans are in place to try and attract more doctors to Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
Hull York Medical School have revealed to Viking how they're now seeking to expand to help address a shortage of GPs in our region.
They're due to submit a bid to government and could mean an extra 40 student doctors will be trained every year in Hull and York.
It comes following Jeremy Hunt's announcement yesterday to train hundreds more British doctors from 2018.
Professor Trevor Sheldon from Hull York Medical School told Viking:
"There's a shortage of doctors, particuarly a shortage of GPs, so by training more doctors in this region we hope to increase the supply of doctors to the area and because we are small we have got the ability to expand and train more doctors to help meet the need of the local area.
"We are struggling to recruit doctors in general, in the hospitals and there is a particular crisis in primary care.
"You can't pin people down to work in their particular area but the evidence shows that a higher proportion of your students tend to stay in the area that they have trained because they get to know the area and the people.
"The government is looking to expand the overall training of students doctors but we are hoping we can make a particular contribution and address the problem in our region which is significantly under-doctored.
"What we expect to happen is the Department for Health along with other ministries will set up a working group and they will invite bids for existing schools to expand their numbers and maybve establish more medical schools so we hope to be successful in our bid".