Having spent time examining primary care training in a number of countries outside the UK, there does seem to be less emphasis on clinical skills training for GP trainees in the UK than for primary care physicians in other countries with well-developed training programmes. I would therefore support Rachel Brettell’s call for better clinical skills training during the period that doctors spend as GP trainees.1 Once they finish their training, GPs in the UK often also see many more patients in a typical working day and have shorter consultation lengths than primary care physicians in many other developed countries; this also hampers the retention and development of the clinical skills of GPs in the UK.