GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said the council is concerned about how the educational environment might be affected during a ‘much more challenging’ financial period.
He said: ‘We are aware that there are already pressures in the system. So that’s one area where we want to keep a very close eye on what is happening because we are determined that educational standard, which is the investment for the future, is not jeopardised.’
It comes as the GMC is to roll out a ‘regional liaison team’ across England, which will work with postgraduate deans, medical schools and LMCs to understand what is happening locally to inform GMC policy.
The GMC said it would ensure the ideas and concerns of doctors, employers, patients and other groups in each part of the UK are ‘fully understood’.
The scheme is already up and running in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the GMC is now set to roll it out in England.
A second team of ‘employer advisers’ – formerly known as GMC affiliates – will also be introduced throughout the UK, which will support medical directors in fitness to practise issues and revalidation.
GMC chairman Dr Peter Rubin said: ‘We have had the message loud and clear that medical directors found it helpful to have a named link person at the GMC to help them navigate their way through the issues that come up when you are wondering about someone's fitness to practise.'
