‘Catastrophic’ crisis in hospital consultant workforce levels

A new report by a number of medical bodies has revealed a significant shortage of consultants in hospitals across England, and that senior doctors are leaving the NHS at an earlier stage than anticipated including before their expected retirement age.

A result of a collaboration between seven medical Royal Colleges, the Faculty of Intensive Medicine together with the BMA, the report sets out to understand why hospital consultants are leaving the NHS earlier than expected and describes detailed practical solutions to government, which require early adoption if we are to avoid today’s shortage becoming a crisis.

The key findings suggest that spiralling levels of demand, longstanding issues with excessive taxation of pensions and growing workloads are major contributing factors to the exodus.

The BMA has warned that inadequate staffing then leads to burnout, low morale and poor wellbeing, with doctors feeling as though they have no choice but to reduce their hours or in some cases, leave altogether. Their own survey from January 2019 found that six out of 10 consultants intend to retire before or at the age of 60, with health and well-being and pensions listed as important factors in their decision-making.

While the overall number of full-time equivalent consultants continues to grow, the demand for consultant-based work is growing at a much faster rate – compounded by our growing and ageing population needing even more care. At the end of June 2020, there were also at least 8,278 secondary care full-time equivalent medical vacancies.

The medical bodies stress that the NHS must prioritise the retention of consultants to start to stem this tide. According to the report at least an extra 7,500 medical school places would also be required to grow the consultant workforce, taking the annual cohort to around 14,000-15,0000 medical students per year.

Among the recommendations put forward, the report says that the Department of Health and Social Care must make the most effective use of retired consultants who volunteered to return to medical practice during the pandemic and develop and employ active workforce retention policies.

Rob Harwood, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “The NHS was facing a huge workforce crisis long before Covid-19. Consultants feel progressively more ground down by an ever-increasing workload and progressively less appreciative employers so they choose to retire at an earlier stage than otherwise they might. In addition, a significant proportion of the consultant workforce is now approaching retirement age, and there is a growing trend of younger doctors already deciding they’ve had enough.

“We’ve reached a position where every consultant is more precious than ever, and in the face of an unwavering global pandemic, everything must be done to retain and recruit more doctors as a matter of urgency, not only to help in the fight against Covid-19, but also the immense backlog created as a result of the virus.

“It’s not solely the BMA who has highlighted these problems, but a group of some of the country’s most respected medical bodies and the government must listen. It is crucial that our recommendations are thoroughly considered, and detailed plans are drawn up to address this crisis both for now and in the future. Without that, we risk creating an NHS that no one wants to work in, the consequences of which are potentially catastrophic.”