Shambles as consultants get through LESS work each year
HOSPITAL consultants are seeing fewer patients as NHS productivity falls, a report reveals.
The number of senior doctors employed in NHS hospitals increased by 26 per cent between 2009/10 and 2015/16.
But their overall output, largely determined by the number of patients they see and treat, has not kept up, increasing just 10.4 per cent over the same period.
The NHS is ‘not using the skills of its consultant workforce’, the report by the Health Foundation think-tank finds.
The authors say productivity by hospital consultants is falling 2.3 per cent a year. They stress this does not mean senior doctors are slacking but rather poor hospital systems and inadequate planning mean they cannot reach their peak productivity. While consultant numbers have soared 26 per cent, for example, the number of nurses vital to support them has increased only 1 per cent.
The report also reveals that nearly half the additional money injected into the NHS before the general election was spent on private providers for patients.
Almost £900million of the £2billion realterms increase for NHS England in 2015/16 was spent on outside care.
Anita Charlesworth, of the Health Foundation, said: ‘The NHS has got to use the skills and talents of its work force much better. Consultant productivity has been falling but not because staff aren’t working incredibly hard. NHS consultants work in a system and if that system isn’t well designed they can’t be productive. Increasing the number of consultants by a fifth without investing in nurses is a prime example of short-term cost savings undermining the essential task of improving long-term productivity.
Professor Jane Dacre, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said last night: ‘We have another report which outlines that our consultant work force is overstretched in an underfunded NHS.
‘Money alone will not solve this issue; work force planning is crucial.
‘Consultants need to be supported by strong teams encompassing nurses, management and support staff.’
Niall Dickson, of the NHS Confederation, which represents hospital trusts, said: ‘The limited extra funding in recent years was supposed to bring the system back into balance and change the way services are organised.’ He added: ‘The reality is that there is still a long way to go on both fronts.’
The Department of Health said the report simply shows the NHS is judging how best to deliver care and added that it spends less than eight pence of every pound on independent providers.