John Hutton: Foreign medics are well-trained

The hospital specialists will be filling posts in histopathology, psychiatry, and dermatology in hospitals in Burnley, Oldham, Rochdale, St Helens, Bury and Halton.

The GPs are expected to join practices in Salford and Trafford, East Lancashire, Wigan and Bolton, North West Lancashire, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Knowsley within three months.

All the doctors arrived in the UK at the weekend for induction programmes which include clinical practice under supervision, as well as language support.

'Doctors welcome'

The Anglo-Spanish recruitment programme was launched in November 2000 following the signing of a formal agreement between Secretary of State for Health Alan Milburn and the Spanish health ministry.

The NHS aims to roll out the doctors' north west pilot project to other parts of the country later this year.

Mr Hutton said: "I am delighted to welcome these doctors to England and the National Health Service.

"It is clear that well trained, experienced and ambitious doctors and nurses want to come to work in Britain's NHS.

NHS pledges

"We are already training thousands more hospital doctors and GPs.

"Training doctors takes time so these new recruits from Spain will help us to plug the gap.

"These extra doctors are helping the NHS to expand to treat more patients more quickly."

According to NHS statistics, there are already 6,700 more doctors working in the UK than in 1997.

We need to 'grow our own' doctors because this area has no medical school and graduates believe there are better promotional prospects in the cities

Gordon Prentice, Pendle MP

The NHS Plan, published by the government in July 2000, commits to targets of 2,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses and 7,500 more consultants by the year 2004.

But Labour MP for Pendle, Gordon Prentice, is calling for renewed efforts to attract young doctors into his constituency to fill the gaps caused by retiring GPs.

"During 2002/3, 14 practioners in the East Lancashire Health Authority area are expected to retire.

"A further eight GPs are due to retire during 2003/2004.

"18 GPs currently within the Pendle Primary Care Group are aged over 55.

"The Spanish medics are clearly very welcome but it is just a stop-gap.

"I am always curious as to why other Western European countries have a surplus of doctors and nurses that doesn't exist in the UK.

"We need to 'grow our own' doctors because this area has no medical school and graduates believe there are better promotional prospects in the cities," he said.