In a speech to the BMA’s annual conference of junior doctors, Dr Shree Datta, chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee called on the new Government to stop the erosion of training for doctors and safeguard the quality of the NHS medical workforce.
“The NHS prides itself, quite rightly, on its highly trained staff, but the quality of doctors it produces depends on the quality of training provided. Alarmingly, our training is now under threat on many fronts. By the 20 billion pounds worth of efficiency savings – politician speak for cuts; by the understaffed rotas one in four of us now have to work on; by a haphazard review of training funding and by the fractured implementation of the 48-hour week,” Dr Datta commented. She highlighted research that shows 4 in 10 junior doctors are working on understaffed rotas and that they are increasingly working more anti-social hours, in which training opportunities are scarce. “Almost half of UK doctors surveyed by the BMA are missing out on essential training. Working extra shifts to prop up understaffed rotas means less time to learn new procedures, less time to practice our skills, less time to learn and less time to become better doctors. Without proper training junior doctors will not be able to gather the skills, experience and knowledge needed to be the GPs and consultants of tomorrow. “The Mid Staffs Inquiry emphasised the important role of education and training in the hospital workplace and it is clear that the training of junior doctors is not an optional extra. A cavalier attitude towards our training cannot and will not be tolerated. We are the future of the NHS and it is imperative that our concerns are addressed if we are to provide care of the highest quality to patients in the future.”
