Understaffing “causing juniors to quit”

24 September 2010

A RISE in the number of junior doctors leaving medicine could be due to the stress of working on understaffed wards, the BMA has suggested.

New figures from the Medical Programme Board show almost a quarter (23 per cent) of the 6000 trainees who complete foundation training in England don’t progress to core training. It’s thought not all leave medicine as some may take gap years or work elsewhere in the NHS.

It is the first year such data has been compiled so it’s not possible to compare the 23 per cent figure to previous years. But the board has launched a review to find out why so many are leaving training at the end of FY2.

BMA Junior Doctors Committee chair Dr Shree Datta said the figures were “alarming” and could be caused by a number of factors. She said: “The BMA estimates that one in four junior doctors have to work on understaffed rotas. Understaffing makes our work much more intense and does not go unnoticed by our patients.”

She said the figures may also be caused by some trainees moving abroad to study, and added: “We await the detailed analysis of these numbers but the possibility remains that the figures reported may not be painting an accurate picture of what is happening on the frontline.”

Campaign group Remedy UK claimed the figures suggest the imposition of a 48-hour week under the European Working Time Directive has led to understaffing and increased stress for trainees.

But a Department of Health spokeswoman told the BBC there was no evidence that understaffing was forcing trainees out of medicine in the UK.

She highlighted the fact that almost all NHS training posts were filled and that there are always more trainees than there are posts in order to ensure a healthy competition for places. And she said that while the government was looking at how the EWTD had been introduced, there would be no return to “tired doctors working excessive hours”.