NHS England must recruit 2,200 A&E consultants, RCEM says

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has urged the NHS in England to recruit 2,200 extra A&E consultants in the next five years.

In a new report titled RCEM Vision 2020, the RCEM warns that there is an urgent need for action to tackle problems facing NHS Emergency Departments (EDs).

It says that the number of patients coming to Emergency Departments is in step with the rising population in the UK, with a 7.4 per cent rise since 2010/11, and warns that this number is set to rise. This number has meant that emergency care staff are working to the limits of their abilities, and four hour performance has declined to the worst for 15 years.

The RCEM warns that the NHS’s emergency medical workforce is not large enough and so struggles to meet the health needs of a growing and ageing population. It says that action is needed, including: 2,200 extra Emergency Medicine consultants in England recruited; at least 100 extra training places per year for at least four years made available; at least 5,065 more beds put in hospitals; a co-location of services; and an Emergency Care Transformation Programme put in place.

To improve Emergency Medicine and deliver what is needed, the RCEM proposes to focus its resources and activities on three strategic aims over a three year period: staffing, systems and support.

Taj Hassan, the RCEM’s president, said: “It is vital that we get our staffing right. Each emergency medicine consultant in England is responsible for around 10,000 patients a year. Our staff are working to the very limits of their abilities to provide safe, compassionate care. This is leading to burnout and doctors leaving the profession, creating a vicious circle.”