Juniors’ rotas are under pressure because of ongoing staff shortages, the BMA claims.
The BMA junior doctors committee says Department of Health data suggests the NHS was short of almost 3,000 juniors at the end of 2008.
The problem has got worse due to the mishandling of overseas doctors and inadequate preparations prior to the implementation of the 48-hour week which came into force for junior doctors in August.
There is no accurate census of junior doctor staff rotas, but the Department of Health estimated that there was a 5% shortfall in junior doctors at the end of the recruitment process in 2008. This equates to 2,914 junior doctors.
New JDC chair Dr Shree Datta said: “Inadequate staffing is putting a huge strain on the NHS. A football manager would not start a match with 10 men. Yet many junior doctors work in understaffed teams every day.
“The problem of understaffed rotas has worsened because the government has mishandled changes to the immigration system leading to many overseas doctors, who used to fill the staffing shortfall, leaving the UK. Poor preparations for the working time directive are likely to have exacerbated the problem.”
A spokesperson for the DoH said the BMA’s claims were based on old data and junior doctor vacancies were only 2%.
Dr Datta said the NHS has relied on junior doctors working beyond their contracted hours for “too long” and called on the government to respond.
Tags: Recruitment, WTD
