I’m pleased to share that Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, and Professor Stephen Powis, former NHS England National Medical Director, have now published their diagnostic report following the first phase of the review.

Your input, alongside that of over 8,000 medical professionals, patients, and educators across the country—including more than 6,000 resident doctors—has been invaluable in shaping our understanding of the challenges and opportunities within postgraduate medical training and identifying where fundamental change is needed.

The report identifies 11 recommendations for improvement, with four key priorities to modernise medical training:

1. Training must become more flexible – doctors need programmes that adapt to individual career goals, not rigid pathways that limit professional development
2. Excellence exists beyond formal training routes – many outstanding doctors are successfully developing their skills before or outside traditional training posts
3. Current training bottlenecks are damaging and must be addressed – excessive competition ratios make it impossible for doctors to plan their careers sensibly or be assessed fairly
4. We need to rebuild inclusive team structures – creating environments where doctors at every stage of training feel valued

The report acknowledges that there are risks to major changes but concludes that the gap between what is needed, and the current system justifies reform.

Next steps

Phase 2 will now begin, involving collaborative design with medical royal colleges, postgraduate deans, the General Medical Council, NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, patient groups, and doctors from all stages of training.

You can read the full diagnostic report here

Thank you once again for your contribution to this important work.