Tories demand junior doctors' jobs

In a letter sent to doctors, the Department of Health (DoH) said there were expected to be an average of three applicants for every job.

A recent Court of Appeal ruling means priority cannot be given to British applicants which means doctors trained in the UK are also competing against those from across the world who want to work in Britain. If they miss out on a training post, doctors cannot go on to become a GP or a specialist.

"There are around 9,000 posts for around 23,000 estimated applicants, that's what the Department of Health has told us," said Sian Thomas of NHS Employers, the organisation which represents trusts in England.

"One could argue that the more competition you have, the better quality you will get. It is a good thing for patients that there is competition for jobs - it should mean they get the best doctors wherever they live."

But she said "taxpayers' money is going to waste" if doctors who had started their training in the UK could not find posts.

Shadow health secretary Tory Andrew Lansley said: "Unless the Government recognises the exceptional need for additional posts this year and in the next two years, we will see a new 'lost tribe' of doctors who fail to complete training, even though many of them are well qualified to reach consultant status in time."

The doctors' pressure group Remedy UK has launched its own free website to help trainees find a job, claiming some face a one in 19 chance of securing a post.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "The impact of the Government's incompetence continues to bite and it is patients and taxpayers who suffer the consequences.

"We are facing an insane waste of resources, with so many expensively educated junior doctors having no jobs to go to at the end of their training."