Patients ‘at risk’ from shortage of doctors

As politics is dominated by Brexit and independence, the health service heads towards ‘breaking point’

The NHS is at “breaking point” due to a shortage of doctors that is putting patients at risk, Scottish physicians have warned.

“This situation now risks plunging our profession into a downward spiral which contributes to further workforce shortages and rota gaps,” said Jackie Taylor, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

She warned that shortages are affecting both doctors and patients, and said: “The wellbeing of doctors is suffering because of the increased workforce pressures that we face.”

Doctor shortages are jeopardising patient safety and rota gaps are pushing the NHS to “breaking point”, Scottish physicians have warned.

A lack of doctors in NHS Scotland due to unfilled vacancies, sick leave and a shortage of staff is often putting patients’ welfare at risk, a survey of consultants has found.

More than a third of Scottish doctors (34 per cent) reported, in the Royal Colleges’ annual census, that trainee rota gaps occurred at least daily, while 16 per cent warned they are causing “significant patient safety problems”.

A further 78 per cent of those who responded said rota gaps potentially cause patient safety problems, but that there are solutions in place.

Just 6 per cent reported that rota gaps had no impact on patient safety.

The survey of 5,826 doctors, published by the Edinburgh, Glasgow and London royal colleges of physicians, showed that the number of posts needing to be filled across the NHS significantly outnumbers the supply of physicians.

“This situation now risks plunging our profession into a downward spiral which contributes to further workforce shortages and rota gaps,” said Professor Jackie Taylor, the president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Prof Taylor warned that the shortages are affecting both doctors and patients, and said: “The wellbeing of doctors is suffering because of the increased workforce pressures that we face.

“That’s why we urgently need a comprehensive plan to address the serious issues that this census raises, so we can reduce the stress that doctors are under and take steps to retain practitioners within the NHS.”

In Scotland, where there is currently one consultant doctor per 3,987 of the population, almost three-quarters of respondents (73 per cent) said that gaps or vacancies most negatively affected their work-life balance.

“This census provides the definitive picture of the state of the medical profession across the UK today,” Prof Taylor said.

“It makes clear that, despite the commitment and professionalism of doctors up and down the country, the pressures that we face on a day-today basis are becoming more acute. These results show that we are now at breaking point.

“I look forward to using these results to continue our work to stand up for the medical profession and ensure that politicians and policymakers act now on the issues we’ ve raised .”

Responding to the survey, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “NHS staffing remains at historically high levels, with consultant numbers increasing 49.3 per cent since 2006 while 190 extra medical undergraduates have been approved.”

Heard just above the sound and fury generated by a Queen’s Speech dismissed by the Opposition as a pre-election stunt, the UK’S performance of Brexit-deal hokeycokey and the ongoing debate over a second Scottish independence referendum, down to the detail of the wording of the question, comes a small, plaintive voice.

It is a voice that once boomed loudly across the public forum, commanding our attention and bringing pressure to bear on those in power, but which has been reduced to a faint echo as we have become increasingly enraptured by matters constitutional.

A survey of NHS consultants in Scotland has found that a lack of doctors is putting patients at risk and pushing the health service to “breaking point”. The situation is now so dire that, according to Professor Jackie Taylor, president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the “wellbeing of doctors is suffering because of the increased workforce pressures that we face”.

The health service has always lent on the good nature of its staff to a degree, but if their health is now beginning to suffer then it’s clear there is a serious problem. And it’s not just serious for the staff concerned but the country as a whole. How can an NHS close to breaking point possibly do the job we have asked it to do?

As The Scotsman has said before, our politicians may need to consider radical changes to ensure the health service is able to cope. An ageing population, increasing cases of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, and wonderful, but often expensive, advances in medicine have all put unprecedented pressure on NHS finances.

It is a simple fact that, if we are not prepared to increase those finances from the public purse, other means of finance need to be found – raising the prospect of measures such as a fee for GP appointments – or the service will have to be reduced.

These are hugely important questions that society must face. If we choose not to because we are obsessed with Brexit, independence and other forms of “high” politics, the health service will eventually hit that breaking point. Will we finally notice then?

Putting NHS staff, many of whom have chosen a difficult career for altruistic reasons, under so much pressure that they become ill is a grimly ironic betrayal on our part. And it is one we may live to regret.