Nurses could train to become doctors by doing “part-time degrees” under radical proposals to increase the number of medics.

Health officials on Wednesday said they were looking at ways to encourage nurses, pharmacists, and physios to train to become doctors while they earned.

Professor Ian Cumming, head of Health Education England, said “the concept of part-time medical degrees” was among a number of ideas under discussion.

Last year Jeremy Hunt revealed plans to expand the number of medical school places by a quarter to make the health service “self-sufficient” in 2025, with the number coming from elsewhere in Europe expected to fall.