GP trainee recruitment has hit new records, it has been announced.

Some 3,793 doctors have accepted offers of training posts this year, Health Education England announced. The target for the year was 3,250. Increases in numbers of GP trainees have been seen as crucial to offset retirements and doctors moving to part-time working to help the profession cope with rising pressures. In 2014 just 2,700 GP trainees were recruited.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said the increase in numbers would help the government meet a promise of creating an extra 50 million appointments annually.

Health Education England medical director Professor Wendy Reid said: “This is fantastic news for the NHS and for patients. It reflects the considerable efforts of our staff to achieve this great success especially during such a challenging period for the NHS. I am so grateful to everyone who has played their part. The challenge now is to continue to up our efforts to increase recruits as we move to our new target of recruiting 4,000 trainees, working through training hubs to deliver more GPs and reforming GP Specialty training to make sure it can meet the needs of patients and maintains it popularity.”