Fewer doctors per head inWales than former Soviet bloc
FIGURES showing the UK has far fewer doctors per head of population than neighbouring countries have fuelled calls for more to be trained in Wales.
There are just 2.8 doctors per 1,000 people in the UK, compared with 3.9 in Spain, 4.4 in Norway and 5.1 in Austria, according to the OECD.
Plaid Cymru’s own analysis suggests the figure in Wales is just 2.75 per 1,000 people.
Dr David Bailey, who chairs the BMA’s Welsh Council, made the case for more doctors to be trained in Wales.
He said: “Those who train in Wales are more likely to stay here in the longer term, so we must ensure that the NHS is geared to fulfilling training needs where possible in Wales, and where it is not, that the Welsh NHS is an attractive place to live and work in the longer term, through valuing doctors as experts and leaders in healthcare.
“We would like to see as many Welsh-domiciled students that meet the entry criteria to consider medicine, and are keen to support initiatives that widen access to medicine as a career. We have repeatedly called for an increase in the number of doctors trained in Wales as part of the solution to tackling recruitment challenges.
“The bottom line is that we need more doctors in order to offer patients a safe standard of care.”
Plaid Cymru is pushing for another 1,000 Welsh doctors.
The OECD research shows that the former Communist states of Estonia and Latvia have better provision of doctors per 1,000 people, at 3.4 and 3.2, respectively.
Plaid claims that to reach the OECD average of 3.4 per 1,000 people, around an extra 2,000 doctors would be required.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, the party’s health spokesman, said: “Yet again we have a reminder that we simply lag behind other European nations when it comes to our medical workforce. With Brexit, burnout and retirements putting even our existing workforce at risk, it’s quite clear we need a plan to train and recruit homegrown doctors. Such a plan must include the development of medical training at Bangor...
“If we do not train more doctors, then our existing NHS staff will continue to be stretched to the limit, particularly as many of our doctors approach retirement age, and many NHS staff plan to leave the profession due to the difficult working conditions.
“Wales will continue to lag at the bottom of the league tables. Is that really how Labour wants to see the future capacity of our NHS? Let’s aspire to be like Austria, Norway and Denmark instead.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have taken action to attract and train more GPs and our successful national and international campaign ‘This is Wales. Train, Work, Live’ has significantly contributed to all of our GP training places being filled, even in traditionally hard-to-recruit rural areas. The recruitment of GPs is a challenge for the whole of the UK, not just Wales.”
The BMA’s Dr Bailey said: “BMA Cymru Wales has continued to raise concerns around the number of doctors in Wales. We have welcomed, and been part of, the Welsh Government’s ‘Train, Work, Live’ campaign which is making some progress, but these figures show clearly that more needs to be done.
“A whole-system strategic approach to workforce planning is key to addressing recruitment and retention challenges. Without it, how can we ensure a sustainable Welsh NHS for patients and staff across the country?”
Last month the BMA warned of “unprecedented recruitment and retention challenges” and said it was unlikely all GP teams could provide Welsh-language services in heartland areas.