‘Lives at risk’ due to senior medical staff shortage
The Conservative party has stated that junior doctors are being left in charge of hospital accident and emergency departments because of a staff shortage.
A limit on senior medical workers in hospital accident and emergency departments is putting patient’s lives at risk, according to the party’s health spokesman.
According to Andrew Lansley, both Mid-Staffordshire and Basildon – where NHS foundation trusts were exposed to have abnormally high death rates – the A&E services did not have satisfactory senior staff. Therefore, junior doctors with only a year or two’s experience beyond university were sometimes left in charge.
Concerns in emergency care is a growing problem reflected in the sharp rise of medical negligence claims brought forward. NHS errors have therefore cost more than £560million in compensation since 1998.
Freedom of information requests submitted to hospitals to determine the number of staff in A&E departments during two sample dates in March, one during the week and one at the weekend, showed that “almost one in three hospitals did not have a doctor of sufficient seniority and experience in the hospital on one of the sample nights,” the Conservatives claimed.
13% of the hospitals had only a junior doctor present and 18% only a middle-grade agency doctor. The party stated: “Hospitals relied heavily on agency staff overnight. Overall in the 157 hospitals [that responded and have emergency departments], on the weekday night, 13% of the nurses on duty were locum or bank nurses and 11% of the doctors. On the weekend night, this rose to 16% of the nursing staff and 15% of the doctors.
“Labour's decision to force the EU's 48-hour week on doctors has meant that many hospitals are struggling to cope. Many more simply have to break the rules.
“We are extremely concerned that a number of hospitals have worryingly low levels of senior staff to treat patients who come in to their emergency departments. As we have seen at both Stafford and Basildon hospitals, a lack of staff in accident and emergency can lead to patients being treated with appalling neglect.”
He added that the high death rates in the A&E department in Basildon, were due to “a lack of leadership, both nursing and medical” from the Care Quality Commission.
The Conservative party named and shamed a staggering 19 NHS trusts that “only had a junior doctor in charge of A&E.”
NHS defence
The Department of Health responded to the allegations and insisted there had been an overall increase in the number of emergency consultants. “The vast majority of patients experience high-quality, safe and effective care, and the Care Quality Commission's recent survey showed that 93% of patients rate their overall care as good or excellent.
“We have increased significantly the number of emergency consultants from 386 in 1997 to 819 in 2008 with 3,278 doctors in training in A&E, thanks to increased investment in training.
“The local NHS must ensure that they provide urgent and emergency care services that are responsive to people's needs – including ensuring appropriate staffing levels.”
Updated on 22/12/2009