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A copy of a table which shows how many NHS specialty training places have been available in each of the last 10 years, broken down by speciality, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65598).

The data below shows that 1083 Foundation Year 2 doctors have returned to training in Scotland since 2020.

The table referred to in PQ S6W-33144 on 21 January 2025, which is held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 65598), gives a breakdown of the numbers of specialty posts available for recruitment and vacancies after recruitment for the past 10 years.

NHS Education for Scotland, in collaboration with wider stakeholders, are taking action to support recruitment into underfilled specialties including cancer and psychiatry. These actions include initiatives to promote these specialties through recruitment campaigns; increase exposure to these specialties, particularly during medical school and early career stages through Foundation placements and programmes, careers fairs and training days and; supporting recruitment in specific regions.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The number of established training places in each specialty is determined by anticipated future demand and workforce need for consultants and General Practitioners rather than foundation programme numbers.

While resident doctors are eligible to apply to specialty training after completing foundation training, other career routes are available and many choose deferred application or alternative routes including periods in locally employed doctor roles or periods of travel alongside options to develop their skills and experience through SAS grade roles. Data shows a trend of increasing proportions of Foundation Year 2 doctors delaying NHS specialty training in the whole of the UK and in Scotland. However, of all the cohorts from 2017 to 2021, only 8% of Foundation Year 2 doctors did not receive any offer of a training post after applying in the same year they completed foundation training.

The distribution of doctors in training is managed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). This has traditionally worked within a distribution model of 50:25:15:10 for the West, South East, North and East respectively.

Aligning to Scottish Government commitments, which include the remote and rural and island initiatives, NES have been reviewing alignment to population health data, consultant and GP vacancies and an increased need for generalism. This review is leading to a redistribution of where doctors train recognising the changing locations and demographics of our population.

The overall cost of training Foundation Year 2 doctors from August 2023 to July 2024 was £56,590,177.

There is no evidence to show that the reduction in Foundation Year 2 doctors entering specialty training has had an impact on the availability of medical professionals. Progression data from the General Medical Council shows that 90% of trainees have obtained a specialty training post in the UK within three years of completing the Foundation Programme.

Details are provided in the following table.

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.

The following operating costs figures are provided from RoS annual report and accounts (which can be accessed via the RoS website www.ros.gov.uk)

Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament and Digital transformation and modernisation of the Registers of Scotland systems are the responsibility of the Keeper.

RoS is delivering a significant programme of digital transformation and modernisation. This has moved RoS’s registers to the cloud; enabled applications to be submitted digitally; and enabled customers to self-serve digital information from the registers; as well as significantly modernising the internal digital tools used by RoS to process applications.

The Scottish Government sets out the Digital Scotland Service Standards which RoS adheres to and RoS staff have taken part in training and development from the Scottish Government’s Digital Academy.