Our Public Affairs Officer Carla Mahoney has written a column for the Western Mail today. It looks at the inadequate staffing levels in the NHS in Wales.
Take a look here and leave a comment on this blog if you have something to share on this topic.
Showing posts with label shortage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shortage. Show all posts
Monday, 14 June 2010
Why Wales has to attract the best medical talent
Our Public Affairs Officer Carla Mahoney has written a column for the Western Mail today. It looks at the inadequate staffing levels in the NHS in Wales.
Take a look here and leave a comment on this blog if you have something to share on this topic.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Why Wales has to persuade doctors to come home
I was pleased to read this article in the Western Mail yesterday written by Conservative Assembly Member Andrew RT Davies, endorsing our We'll Keep A Welcome campaign.
BMA Cymru have consistently highlighted the problem of the shortage of doctors in Wales, which could lead to the NHS becoming unsafe for both staff and patients.
This campaign is the latest move by BMA Cymru to promote Wales as a desirable place to live and work.
We have contacted all schools in Wales to reach out to prospective medical students before they leave for university.
All students have been sent packs which include letters from me, as well as from Welsh postgraduate dean Derek Gallen, along with information about training in Wales and posters to put up in medical schools.
Whilst we are happy to initiate grass roots action here in Wales, the Government has a responsibility to ensure that safety standards in Wales are maintained, and that the citizens of Wales receive the quality healthcare they deserve.
Follow our campaign by joining our facebook group here to keep up-to-date with the latest developments.
Tell us why you think Wales is a great place to live and work.....
Monday, 10 May 2010
Welsh Cancer Standards
The Western Mail today reports on Wales falling short on meeting national cancer standards.
Health professionals throughout Wales are committed to providing the best possible services to patients, and welcome the Welsh Assembly Governments ambition to achieve 100 per cent compliance across this set of standards - unfortunately the reality falls woefully short of the ambition as this report highlights.
While acknowledging that much work has been done, this report highlights how much more there is to do.
Additional resources will be required to meet these standards - and even in these tight financial times, cancer services will remain a priority to doctors and patients in Wales.
The report highlights a shortage of specialists throughout multidisciplinary clinical teams. BMA Cymru have warned the Welsh Assembly Government repeatedly over the shortage of doctors in Wales, and this data adds wait to our argument.
The high level of middle grade and junior doctor vacancies means that consultants are left picking up the pieces where there are gaps in rotas.
This is compromising consultants’ ability to deliver routine daily work, and there is no evidence that hospitals are adjusting services to take these shortfalls into account.
While BMA Cymru has been working with WAG and employing Local Health Boards around doctor shortages - many of our suggestions on how to address the current crisis we are facing have yet to be taken up.
Without doubt, the rates of work being undertaken cannot be sustained with the current levels of staffing.
The Welsh Assembly Government must ensure that training programmes are in place to provide future specialists.
Although the waiting times for radiotherapy have not improved, it is pleasing that the WAG identified the need for more resources in this area to ensure improvements were made. The recent investment into extended working hours and a national procurement programme for linear accelerators is to be welcomed.
The WAG must now ensure that sufficient resources are available in other areas to enable workers to implement recommendations.
Doctors are eager to drive forward efforts to improve the care cancer patients receive and are usually at the forefront of leading improvements and new initiatives; but sustainable solutions are needed to address the problems raised in this report if NHS Wales is to deliver and maintain the quality and capacity of cancer services that the people of Wales deserve.
Health professionals throughout Wales are committed to providing the best possible services to patients, and welcome the Welsh Assembly Governments ambition to achieve 100 per cent compliance across this set of standards - unfortunately the reality falls woefully short of the ambition as this report highlights.
While acknowledging that much work has been done, this report highlights how much more there is to do.
Additional resources will be required to meet these standards - and even in these tight financial times, cancer services will remain a priority to doctors and patients in Wales.
The report highlights a shortage of specialists throughout multidisciplinary clinical teams. BMA Cymru have warned the Welsh Assembly Government repeatedly over the shortage of doctors in Wales, and this data adds wait to our argument.
The high level of middle grade and junior doctor vacancies means that consultants are left picking up the pieces where there are gaps in rotas.
This is compromising consultants’ ability to deliver routine daily work, and there is no evidence that hospitals are adjusting services to take these shortfalls into account.
While BMA Cymru has been working with WAG and employing Local Health Boards around doctor shortages - many of our suggestions on how to address the current crisis we are facing have yet to be taken up.
Without doubt, the rates of work being undertaken cannot be sustained with the current levels of staffing.
The Welsh Assembly Government must ensure that training programmes are in place to provide future specialists.
Although the waiting times for radiotherapy have not improved, it is pleasing that the WAG identified the need for more resources in this area to ensure improvements were made. The recent investment into extended working hours and a national procurement programme for linear accelerators is to be welcomed.
The WAG must now ensure that sufficient resources are available in other areas to enable workers to implement recommendations.
Doctors are eager to drive forward efforts to improve the care cancer patients receive and are usually at the forefront of leading improvements and new initiatives; but sustainable solutions are needed to address the problems raised in this report if NHS Wales is to deliver and maintain the quality and capacity of cancer services that the people of Wales deserve.
Monday, 22 March 2010
400 doctors short in Wales
The BBC have reported today that Wales is short of almost 400 doctors.
These problems come as no surprise to us at the BMA, having predicted that these shortages would happen at some point.
For some time now we have been trying to meet with representatives from the WAG, to see how we can work together, drawing on the experience of front line doctors, especially juniors, to look for some solutions to the situation.
The levels of a lack of middle grade and junior doctors right across Wales is clearly unacceptable to both our members and people needing hospital treatment and this does not look like changing in the immediate future. The Health Minister should treat this situation with urgency.
The high level of middle grade and junior doctor vacancies means that consultants are left picking up the pieces where there are gaps in rotas.
This is compromising consultants’ ability to deliver routine daily work, and there is no evidence that hospitals are adjusting services to take these shortfalls into account.
Without doubt, the rates of work being undertaken cannot be sustained with the current levels of staffing. Hospital managers must address this now, working with clinical colleagues.
The idea for our latest campaign "We'll Keep a Welcome", which aims to attract Welsh students who have left the country to study medicine to return to Wales to train as doctors, came about in an effort to tackle the problem of the severe shortage of doctors in Wales.
The safety of both NHS staff and patients is key, and we will need sustainable solutions for the future if NHS Wales is to deliver and maintain the quality and capacity of services that the people of Wales deserve.
These problems come as no surprise to us at the BMA, having predicted that these shortages would happen at some point.
For some time now we have been trying to meet with representatives from the WAG, to see how we can work together, drawing on the experience of front line doctors, especially juniors, to look for some solutions to the situation.
The levels of a lack of middle grade and junior doctors right across Wales is clearly unacceptable to both our members and people needing hospital treatment and this does not look like changing in the immediate future. The Health Minister should treat this situation with urgency.
The high level of middle grade and junior doctor vacancies means that consultants are left picking up the pieces where there are gaps in rotas.
This is compromising consultants’ ability to deliver routine daily work, and there is no evidence that hospitals are adjusting services to take these shortfalls into account.
Without doubt, the rates of work being undertaken cannot be sustained with the current levels of staffing. Hospital managers must address this now, working with clinical colleagues.
The idea for our latest campaign "We'll Keep a Welcome", which aims to attract Welsh students who have left the country to study medicine to return to Wales to train as doctors, came about in an effort to tackle the problem of the severe shortage of doctors in Wales.
The safety of both NHS staff and patients is key, and we will need sustainable solutions for the future if NHS Wales is to deliver and maintain the quality and capacity of services that the people of Wales deserve.
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