An Nhs Workforce in Crisis Patients and Staff Suffer Despite Promise of Action
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Summary
On one level, it was a statement of the obvious, but Malcolm Chisholm clearly believed it constituted a point worth making. "The medical workforce is crucial to the future of NHS-Scotland," he said in July 2002 when welcoming publication of a report by Professor John Temple into introducing proper planning procedures to match doctor numbers and specialisms to posts in the health service. To reinforce the message, Mr Chisholm, the health minister, said it was a profound truth that the success of the NHS rested on its workforce, with doctors key to the team effort.
To the Scottish council of the British Medical Association (BMA), these fine words have a hollow ring two years on. It has tabled a motion for the organisation's annual meeting this month which condemns a "chronic failure" in manning the NHS properly and demands urgent action to rectify the problem. A BMA spokesman said the medical workforce in Scotland was in crisis and predicted that matters would worsen as a result of the European Working Time Directive reducing medical staff hours. It is a familiar refrain. The consequences of failing to match doctors to jobs have been felt beyond the BMA.See the full content of this document
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An Nhs Workforce in Crisis Patients and Staff Suffer Despite Promise of Action
When a service cannot be provided, it is the patient who suffers. Hospitals are closed...
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