GPs in Yorkshire and Humber are to be offered overseas placement sabbaticals and funding to do their MBAs as part of a plan by a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to alleviate the recruitment crisis in the profession locally.

NHS Hull CCG has designed a package of incentives aimed at keeping GPs in the area for six years and longer because it has been particularly hit by the recruitment crisis engulfing the whole of the country, with only 78 per cent of training positions being filled this year, the lowest in England.

As part of the package, the CCG will find overseas placements for trainee and qualified GPs and will fund MBA or a Masters degree in education or leadership, as well as giving GPs the opportunity to work in different practices.

In return, GPs will be expected to work in the area for six years, with a hope that they will remain locally after the end of that period and become au fait with local issues, as well as forming long-term relationships with patients.

Meanwhile, a taskforce set up to seek solutions to the training crisis that will get more people into the profession has recommended that hospital training places be reduced to free up funding for more GP trainees.

Another suggestion is that practices could be funded by up to £20,000 to expand and take on more trainees and incentivising medical schools to increase the proportion of undergraduates selecting general practice.

It has also been recommended that it should be made easier for GPs who have left to work overseas to return to general practice here, with back-to-work training schemes to be provided for returners.