Patients “at risk” as doctors’ morale sinks

The annual report of the General Medical Council (GMC) has warned that there is “a state of unease within the medical profession across the UK that risks affecting patients as well as doctors.” The GMC added that the dispute between junior hospital doctors and the Government – in which the Government had imposed new contracts on junior hospital doctors – had caused anger and frustration among doctors, leading to a level of alienation which “should cause everyone to pause and reflect”.

The report went on to look at the progression of qualified junior doctors into speciality areas. It found that 582 fewer doctors had begun training in medical specialisms last year compared with the year before. While it is established practice for many doctors to take a break after they have qualified and before they go on to take specialist training, just under half of those who were planning to take a break last year said they were doing so because the demands of working as a junior doctor had left them exhausted and “burnt out”. The GMC warned that this was evidence of the severe pressure junior doctors are under, though there had been a problem of “burn out” in the profession for years.

Funding is also an issue, with the GMC report finding that the pressure of working within static or shrinking budgets as need rises was an additional pressure on doctors and NHS staff. This point was echoed by the British Medical Association (BMA), which warned that junior doctors have expressed concerns that underfunding has made their job much more difficult and has affected the care that patients receive.

NHS employers, a body which brings together the various employing bodies in the NHS, welcomed the report, saying, “We welcome the insight the report gives into the huge financial and service pressures the NHS is under.” It added that the GMC’s report showed that there is a need for skilled foreign workers to come to the UK and take jobs in the NHS.

For the Government, the Department of Health issued a formal statement saying that listening to the concerns of staff was central to their plans to improve services – which appeared very odd, as the Government has just spent a year totally ignoring what junior doctors have had to say about the state of the NHS.

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