Doctors need our support

A new survey conducted among senior hospital doctors, GPs, trainees and charity supporters released recently alarmingly finds that two-thirds of respondents would not recommend medicine as a career to their children, despite the fact that traditionally it’s been a family career throughout generations.

The survey was released by The Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (RMBF), a charity which helps doctors, medical students and their families, as part of their new ‘Together for Doctors’ campaign.

While the majority of doctors said that they would still study medicine given their time again, 92% think that working conditions in UK hospitals have deteriorated in the past decade, and 93% are concerned by the number of doctors choosing to leave the profession.

In spite of the ‘bravado’ culture that is seen to prevail in medicine – a culture which places value on the ability to work under pressure and cope with long hours – rising targets and demands on resources are taking their toll.

Of the 1,800 individuals that took part in the survey, 93% think that hospital doctors are forced into uncomfortable decisions due to current pressures in the NHS such as discharging patients early to free up beds.

It is vital that we listen to those on the front line before it is too late.

Together for Doctors aims to raise awareness of the need to offer support to doctors throughout the UK who are working under increasing difficulty and scrutiny, as well as encouraging doctors themselves to come forward and seek help when they need it.

Doctors work tirelessly to support us all in our times of need, yet worryingly many feel unable to ask for help when things aren’t going well for them.

We know that there are many more doctors in this country who could benefit from the RMBF’s help.

I hope that by talking openly about these issues we can encourage more people in need of support to come forward.

To find out more about the RMBF or to help fundraise visit www.rmbf.org – your money could help a doctor and their family to rebuild their lives after illness or an accident. Professor Dame Parveen Kumar DBE, President Royal Medical Benevolent Fund