Connecting resident doctors to communities

The NHS faces a double challenge: retain a medical workforce under growing strain, while building a health service that is more preventive, more rooted in neighbourhoods and better connected to the communities it serves. This paper asks what would happen if place became a more important part of medical workforce policy, particularly for resident doctors. Drawing on six years of research and examples from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, it explores how greater geographical stability could be combined with high-quality medical training, while giving doctors stronger connections to local communities and a greater role in improving the services around them.