A permanent A&E consultant in nearly a year

“The health chiefs and Labour Ministers also told us that consultant recruitment is practically impossible. This has proven false when figures have been obtained showing other health boards without threats to their A&E departments have managed to boost A&E consultant numbers.

“The lack of any advertising for permanent consultants in A&E further weakens this argument. The health board cannot claim that something is difficult or impossible if they haven’t even tried.

“I am sure that recruitment would become a lot easier if the South Wales Programme was changed to remove references to the downgrading of our A&E. This would take the ‘soon-to-be closed’ sign off the A&E department front door and would give prospective consultants the safeguards on job security they no doubt look for.”

In response to the FOI request, a spokeswoman for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said: “Efforts have been made in recent years to recruit medical staff at a range of levels to our emergency department at Royal Glamorgan

Hospital, including adverts for locum consultants, but it is recognised that more could have been done to advertise for permanent consultants.

“Since February, we have been proactively advertising for permanent consultants and middle grade doctors to work across the health board’s emergency departments and there is now a continual recruitment campaign.

“Adverts have been posted widely including in the British Medical Journal, on social media and NHS jobs. The health board is also trying to increase its workforce by talking with existing locum doctors who we would like to support with their further development and enable them to gain the training needed to apply for permanent consultant posts.

“As a temporary measure there will be interim support from the Princess of Wales Hospital while a safe and sustainable way of providing emergency services is developed.

“The well-recognised shortage of emergency medicine consultants and the experience of trusts and health boards across the UK demonstrates that this is likely to be challenging.”