THE UK could be looking to recruit new doctors without degrees into the health service, says a Tory MP.

The Tory MP for Copeland, Trudy Harrison, has said clinicians in her Copeland constituency were concerned about recruitment and retention, rather than the 1% pay cap.

She said: "I will look forward on my place in the education select committee to looking at how we can recruit those doctors and nurses through the technical and also academic routes."

SNP health spokesperson Dr Philippa Whitford intervened to ask for clarification, stating that Harrison "talked about recruiting doctors and nurses through a technical route. Is she really - or is the Government really - proposing that route into medicine without a degree?"

Thanking Whitford for her intervention, Harrison clarified that she wanted to support both academic and technical routes into "all employment within the health sector".

Shortly afterwards, Dr Craig Dalzell shared an image on Twitter of Whitford's reaction to the comment and one that he himself shared.