Lack of psychiatrists inWales could have ‘devastating consequences’

WALES has fewer consultant psychiatrists per head than anywhere else in the UK, new figures have revealed.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says the lack of such professionals, who are the most senior NHS doctors working in mental health, could have “devastating and sometimes fatal consequences”.

According to their statistics, for every 100,000 people who live in Wales there are just six psychiatrists offering specialist care to those with the most complex and serious mental ill-health.

That’s a lower figure than Scotland (10), England (eight) and Northern Ireland (eight).

Even within Wales, there is a near three-fold variation in consultant psychiatrist numbers across health boards.

It found that people in rural areas have the poorest access to specialist mental health care, with less than half the number of psychiatrists per head of population as people living in more urban areas.

There were just four consultant psychiatrists for every 100,000 people in Powys Teaching Health Board compared to 11 in Cwm Taf University Health Board.

Over the five years from 2011, the number of consultant psychiatrists has declined by 3.8%, while the number of consultants across all other hospital specialties increased by 10.4%.

The Assembly’s Health, Social Care and Sports Committee highlighted the scale of the problem of recruitment across the range of medical professionals throughout Wales in their report on medical recruitment.

Alun Thomas, chief executive of mental health charity Hafal said: “While all of us who work in mental health services know that recovery is dependent on a multi-agency, holistic approach, one of the key figures in the team is the consultant psychiatrist.

“The psychiatrist is vital, particularly in times of crisis, both in reducing the impact of that crisis and in helping prevent such issues in the future. Psychiatry both saves and adds years to patients’ lives.

“Within Wales we have a strong lead from Government on co-production in our health and social care services and we therefore have a particular need for consultant psychiatrists who want to work in a recovery-focused environment which provides continuity of support for people who need help.

“We do not have sufficient numbers of these specialist doctors and it is vital that we encourage and support trainees to become consultant psychiatrists in Wales.”

Dr Ceri Evans, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Co Lead for Recruitment and Retention in Wales said: “The College in Wales is working hard to address the issues around recruitment and retention of psychiatrists and we have put together a robust strategy to promote the importance of this specialty and to highlight what a rewarding career it is.”

The Welsh Government said it recently increased funding to develop services in some areas of mental health, such as liaison psychiatry and eating disorders.

But it admits that recruitment into the specialty is still an issue.