04.10.16
Extra training places for doctors ‘will have no immediate effect’
Jeremy Hunt’s promise of more training places for doctors will do nothing to address the immediate problems facing the health service, doctors’ leaders have warned.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference today, Hunt announced measures to make the NHS “self-sufficient in doctors”, including 1,500 extra training places and a restriction requiring doctors to pay back the cost of their training if they leave the UK within four years.
Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that the proposal was “a helpful step in the right direction” but would have no impact for 10-12 years.
“With the emergency care system at crisis point, this long-term solution will do nothing to have any beneficial effect on the immediate crippling shortages of doctors in the UK,” he said. “More urgent action is needed to address the short term challenges to give time for longer term solutions, such as this one, to deliver.”
NHS Providers warned that the NHS is heading towards a “winter of discontent” after the latest performance figures showed that A&Es continue to face record attendance levels and struggle to meet waiting time targets.
Dr Hassan said that the measures were “starting in the wrong place” and that an “under-staffed, under-resourced, overcrowded” working environment was part of the reason why doctors were leaving the UK.
A recent report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said that the NHS risks reaching “the point of no return” because of serious staffing and funding problems.
Jane Dacre, president of the RCP, said she “strongly” welcomed the announcement as a “prompt” response to the report. But added: “The NHS is facing many problems now and every opportunity to increase patient access to care must be met in addition to the expansion in the future workforce.”
She said the RCP wanted to work with the government to understand where the places are most needed and how they will be funded.
Professor Derek Bell, president of the Edinburgh RCP, agreed that the reforms would take “several years to have any impact” and that it was equally important to “create a culture in the NHS where the workforce feels valued and has the time to care for patients”.
He said it was “far more urgent” to address workforce planning issues in order to tackle staff shortages.
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