1,000 extra places for medical students

(Photograph) - The 1,000 extra places for medical students that will be created from next year will not be enough, according to the British Medical Association.

'The problem is that there are too few doctors. More than 1,000 extra will be needed,' said a spokeswoman for the BMA. 'We would like to see at least one new medical school. A lot of the existing schools are too crowded. Lecture theatres are too full and tutorials are crowded. Patients are being put off by the long queues of medical students filing past them.' Her comments came as junior doctors prepared to ballot on strikes in protest at long working hours. The Higher Education Funding Council for England will allocate next year's extra places in the next two weeks.