We need to halt tide of doctors leaving the job

THE FINDINGS of a recent BMA report revealing the worrying level of shortages of trainee doctors in many areas of medicine show that nearly three quarters of all medical specialities in England had unfilled training posts in 2016.

Worryingly, the report found that Yorkshire had the lowest number of fill rates. Indeed, in the Northern regions, doctor shortages were significantly worse than elsewhere with the North-East and North-West having the highest number of unfilled doctor training posts after Yorkshire. At every stage of a doctor’s training we are seeing more and more people dropping off. The number of applications to UK medical schools has decreased, people are choosing not to go into the foundation programme (the first year of a doctor’s training), and more doctors are choosing to take career breaks.

We need to find answers as to why those who have spent many years training to become a doctor are deciding not to continue in the profession. The impact of rising workloads, higher tuition fees, low morale and the publicsector pay cap are undoubtedly significant factors.

In Yorkshire, a number of areas of psychiatry are experiencing significant doctor shortages, including the area of general and child and adolescent psychiatry. Indeed, recent NHS digital data revealed that many people face a postcode lottery for specialist mental health, with Yorkshire and Humber having half of the number of consultant psychiatrists per 100,000 patients compared to parts of London.

This is alongside the high number of patients in Yorkshire having to travel unacceptable distances to access mental health treatment. With an increase in the number of people seeking treatment, services in the region are struggling to cope as the Government has failed to live up to its promises on mental health.

With hospitals in Yorkshire experiencing significant winter pressures last year, it is worrying that emergency medicine is another area with significant doctor shortages. NHS Providers have already warned that an emergency cash injection is needed for the health service to survive another winter and shortages in emergency medicine means that A&Es will come under increasing pressure in the region.

General practice in Yorkshire is also experiencing a worrying recruitment and retention crisis as surgeries are unable to attract enough doctors to posts. To counteract this, the government has recently launched a new pilot scheme in Humber, Coast and Vale aimed at recruiting international doctors.

Overseas doctors make a valuable contribution to the NHS and will provide much-needed assistance, but this does not go far enough in tackling the scale of the workforce crisis in general practice. In addition to this, the government must train more GPs who are willing to stay and work in the UK and invest in ways to reduce GP workloads and stress so doctors are happy to remain working in the NHS.

Staff shortages and increasing workloads means the pressure is such that in a recent BMA survey, half of GP practices said they would consider applying for a temporary list closure to ease pressures while others have had to close their doors entirely. This was recently the case for a GP surgery in Bridlington which resulted in more than 6,000 having to look elsewhere for a GP.

The Government needs to take a more innovative approach to workforce planning and career development if the NHS is going to be keep up with the new generation of doctors coming through.

Modern-day working requirements should be taken into consideration with the NHS offering greater career flexibility within the profession. This should include greater access to part-time working, parental leave, more flexibility around shift patterns, out-of-hours working and locum working.

With increasing numbers of doctors struggling from stress and burnout, improving health and wellbeing services for doctors would go some way to creating a more supportive working environment for them. Issues such as rota gaps adds to doctors’ workloads as they feel under pressure to accept extra shifts.

Resorting to short-term solutions such as more agency staff or outsourcing work to the private sector may provide a quick fix but detracts from wider problems and ultimately leads to bigger financial problems in the long-run.

With patients enduring some of the worst conditions in decades, we need urgent investment in health and social care, and a long-term plan that can meet future demand head-on. With fewer doctors progressing through training, at a time when demand on NHS services is growing, the government must come up with a solution before the situation goes from bad to worse for doctors and patients.