Increased student numbers need enlarged facilities

Editor - The debate on student numbers at medical schools is ongoing. It is good to read about the increasing numbers of medical students being admitted each year. We all know how they will help to boost doctor numbers, lift the NHS, and so on. But we should also be aware that adding 100 or so extra students every year creates problems.

After a trip to a conference in Holland, I saw the medical school at Leiden. It is a new and modern building, with twin escalators leading to an array of shops. There are art galleries and sculptures on the first floor, ample meeting areas, clean toilets on every floor at every juncture, wide corridors, and lecture theatres with microphones at every seat. This is quite a contrast to the increasingly cramped facilities in the United Kingdom—not a problem that is limited to one medical school, with people sitting in aisles of lecture theatres, packed firms, the list goes on. You cant just add 100 more students each year without preparing adequately, and hoping for the best more often than not leads to difficulty. Is this another lack of foresight that is often demonstrated throughout the NHS (instant solutions but lack of planning)?

Im all for more medical students, and its good that the government will give the extra funding. I appreciate that the grass may seem greener on the other side, but lets make sure that we have the facilities before the new batch arrive, or there may be a danger that well herniate at the seams.