ACCOMMODATION FOR FIRST YEAR JUNIOR DOCTORS

That this House notes with concern the Government's proposed removal of free hospital accommodation for new first year junior doctors from August 2008; further notes that medical students graduate with an average debt in excess of £20,000 and that adding almost £5,000 of accommodation costs will increase the financial burden on medical students as they enter their first year of junior doctor training; is concerned that hugely increasing levels of debt among medical students - made worse by the removal of free accommodation - will mean that medicine will become more about ability to pay than about ability to become a good doctor; believes that the decision to remove free accommodation was taken without proper consultation with junior doctors; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that negotiations begin with the British Medical Association to reach an acceptable agreement.