A&E staff ing crisis as junior doctors snub training jobs

TWO-THIRDS of training posts in Scotland’s A&E departments are unfilled amid fears of a recruitment crisis in one of the most vital areas of medical care.

Just six out of 21 on-the-job training places in emergency medicine have been taken at the end of the annual recruitment round.

Bosses are also struggling to find junior doctors willing to specialise in acute medicine, which treats increasing numbers of elderly patients – with less than half of vacancies filled.

The shortage has now forced the Scottish Government to advertise the jobs overseas.

Junior doctors are relied upon heavily on wards, particularly at evenings and weekends – with some working up to 90 hours per week.

Now, only weeks after Health Secretary Alex Neil ordered health boards to slash junior doctors’ hours, it is feared many are opting to avoid often gruelling A&E medicine rotas.

Dr David Reid, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee, said: ‘Increasingly, while trainees want to have further training, they also want to spend time with their friends and family.

‘Emergency and acute medicine rotas are quite demanding and do not address work-life balance as much as they should.’

He added that incentives or

‘Rotas are demanding’

enhanced contracts should be offered to attract more staff.

It is understood negotiations about introducing more flexibility into junior doctors’ contracts are ongoing.

But the difficulties in recruitment are worsening.

In 2011, some 62 per cent of emergency training vacancies and 76 per cent of acute medicine vacancies were filled. Currently almost 71 per cent of emergency posts and almost 60 per cent of acute posts are vacant.

Dr Reid added: ‘It’s a vicious cycle. When you have a system that’s somewhat under pressure, such as unscheduled care, and you are not filling 100 per cent of the jobs, it is going to add to the pressures that are already in the system.’

Labour health spokesman Neil Findlay said: ‘ The failure to attract enough junior doctors is a real crisis for our NHS.’

Health boards with vacancies can employ locum doctors on short-term contracts to fill any gaps and it is understood there may be a second recruitment round in the autumn. A Scotti s h Government spokesman said: ‘Fill rate for t r ainee posts i n Scotland remains high, and in some cases are better than elsewhere in the UK.

‘While there are issues recruiting in a number of specialties, the issue is not unique to Scotland and we are working with NHS boards to support their staff recruitment efforts.’