Exploring improvements to the national recruitment process

The RCoA has published a report of the work undertaken following two resolutions passed at the College’s Extraordinary General Meeting in 2023. As requested by members, we further examined past failings of the Anaesthetics National Recruitment Office (ANRO) and considered the feasibility of returning to regional recruitment.  The report sets out our findings and recommendations.  

This work was completed and reviewed by Council at the end of last year. Since then, however, external developments – including the government’s decision to abolish NHS England – have introduced new uncertainty. At the time of writing the report, NHS England had committed to providing additional resources for anaesthetics recruitment, including three new posts within the ANRO team. Regrettably, these posts remain unfilled, and our recent attempts to obtain an update have gone unanswered. This is a serious and ongoing concern.   

Anaesthetic recruitment services must be adequately resourced

We acknowledge the wider challenges NHS England is facing, but anaesthetic recruitment services must be adequately resourced. The College’s Recruitment Committee has been working constructively with the ANRO team, and we recognise the genuine progress that has been made in some areas. But without the additional resources promised, the system remains fundamentally ill-equipped to deliver recruitment services, particularly given the increase in application numbers. This places an unacceptable strain on the system and represents a significant risk to applicants participating in what is a high-stakes and deeply consequential process.    

The College will continue to do everything in our power to monitor and improve the recruitment process for applicants, who deserve a system that is fair, robust and transparent. While we do not have control over resourcing, we will continue to lobby for change.   

Retaining national recruitment

With regard to regional recruitment, after careful review, we have concluded that the current national model should be retained, not least because of a lack of resources available to regional teams to take on this role. This view has been strengthened by the government’s plans to significantly restructure NHS governance in England, which brings uncertainty in the near term.   

We are grateful to the many individuals and groups who have contributed to this work, which has been collaborative throughout. Our sincere thanks go to members of our working party, to anaesthetists in training and trainers, and the wider membership.  

Dr Claire Shannon  
President