Hospitals struggle to find enough junior doctors to fill rotas

Pendulum swinging the other way!!
30 December 2008

kamal sidhu, GP Sunderland
Send response to journal: Re: Pendulum swinging the other way!!
This news really comes as a shock to me though similar anecdotal incidents of shortage are starting to be heard in local circles.Is this the pendulum starting to go back the other way? How well does it reflect on the planning of workforce by NHS managers and politicians alike? Who is answerable for the inconvenience caused to patients by cancellation of surgeries, delays in assessments and procedures.What about hundreds of junior doctors who had to move to other countries like US, Australia and New Zealand? Who is going to accept the blame for a chaotic planning which resulted in hundreds of overseas doctors leaving in financial as well as psychological distress? perhaps all the surveys, pilots or studies conducted did not foresee this and if there were warning signals,were these warnings heeded to. This certainly does not reflect well on Britain as a nation and NHS as an exemplary health service but someone must have known?
Competing interests: None declared

Job crisis is 'bigger threat' than private firms

Unemployment amongst young GPs is certainly a big challenge for the profession.Many of us chose general practice as a career because of cradle to grave relationship with the patients and career stability, both of which are lacking in locum work.Most of us want to be in stable jobs i.e partnerships which are very hard to come by in the current scenario. The current bosses at the helm clearly lack focus and long term plan.Increased intake (likely to increase even further) has shifted the pendulum to other side along with squeeze on funding for practices.Lack of workforce planning is not unheard of and chaos in NHS is reflected here as well.We only need to go back a year or two to remind us of MMC fiasco and clear failure on part of the authorities that resulted in a lot of overseas doctors coming to UK, many of whom are now stuck in non training positions or had to go back, not to mention difficulties faced by local graduates, Only a year ago, weekly newspapers carried striking headlines about thousands of GPs going to retire in next few years and creating a vacuum.I can not see that coming despite so much negative spin about GPs which will leave anyone fuming and upset, Times are certainly uncertain and so is the future of general practice as well as of future GPs. I will not take the blame by moral police of the profession for caving in to work for Tescos or Boots if it fails me now.Dr Buckman is rightly worried about this cancer but unless we get out act together and look after each other,time will run out for cure and this cancer may only be palliated.

Mumbai Blasts

It is a horrific incident.A reminder of how dangerous the conflicts are in our region as well as how politicians and corruption in our country has always let us down.
Let us all pray together for peace for those innocents who lost their lives and for peace in whole world.