STAFF WELFARE
of full-time GPs is falling as many decide to leave the profession or retire earlier. “Many GPs are voting with their feet because of the daily struggle of trying to provide enough appointments to patients without the resources or support they need. Given the uncertainty of whether the UK’s departure from the EU will result in more overseas doctors leaving the NHS, this shortage could well get even worse in the years to come. “With the NHS at breaking point, we need the Government to take the evidence of a workforce crisis seriously and act to implement a long-term, well-funded plan that results in more GPs being available to treat the public.”
University of Exeter medical school professor and practising GP John Campbell led the study and said that its findings were worrying even in the face of the well- established national crisis facing general practice in England. He said: “We carried out this survey because of a nationally recognised crisis in the shortage of GPs across the country, and our findings show an even bleaker outlook than expected for GP cover. If the GPs we surveyed fulfil their intentions to leave or to cut back their patient contact, and no action is taken to address the issue, the south-west will experience a severe shortfall of GPs in the next five years.” Professor Campbell added that the Government had so far only offered
‘sticking-plaster’ solutions to the massive challenges facing GPs. He warned that ministers urgently needed to work with organisations such as the BMA to find effective solutions: “GPs and their teams deliver nine out of every 10 patient contacts with the NHS but attract just seven pence in every pound of NHS resource; that is unsustainable. The Government needs to work with the Royal College of GPs, the BMA, and universities to obtain evidence on the causes of the problem, to develop and implement relevant strategy, and to effect fundamental change in healthcare resourcing and planning nationwide.” Both NHS England and HEE have sought to tackle challenges in general practice recruitment, with HEE having increased GP training places, and targeted funds available to help practices with staff training and relocation costs. However, the BMA and others have warned that these measures will take time to address adequately problems “caused by years of under- investment and poor workforce planning”. Research also highlights the impact on staff wellbeing – increased workload and staff shortages can lead to stress and burnout, and a BMA survey found that more than half of salaried and locum GPs suffered from stress as a result of their work. The survey of around 2,000 GPs found that one in 10 have taken time off work because of work-related stress in the last year.13 The survey was carried out between
1 March and 6 April this year by the GPC sessional GPs subcommittee, which represents salaried and locum GPs in the UK. It found that 76% of salaried GPs had noticed a rise in workload. Seven out of 10 locum GPs said they would consider leaving the profession if a cap on locum pay was introduced in general practice. GPC sessional GPs subcommittee chair Zoe Norris said the survey laid bare a workload crisis that threatened to overwhelm locum and salaried GPs.
“It cannot be healthy that more than half are suffering from the impact of work-related stress that is clearly being caused by a working environment starved of resources despite rising patient demand,” she commented.
Nursing
RCN chief executive, Janet Davies has also raised concerns, commenting: “A lethal cocktail of factors is resulting in too few nurses and patient care is suffering. The Government desperately needs to keep the experienced staff still working in the NHS. More people are leaving nursing than joining – deterred by low pay, relentless pressure and new training costs. For the sake of patient safety, the Chancellor must scrap the cap on pay and help to fill the tens of thousands of vacant nurse jobs.”14 RCN also pointed out that new figures from UCAS also reveal that the number of people applying to study nursing this September has fallen by almost a quarter
SEPTEMBER 2017
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