Commenting on the publication of the Shape of Training Report [1], Dr Neil Dewhurst, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said,
“In broad terms, we welcome the report with the recognition that we need to train more hospital generalists to respond to the complex care needs of our ageing population. This should theoretically create a future generation of hospital doctors who will have the knowledge to treat a wider range of patients. But this will only work if the training and employment opportunities and the working environments are sufficiently attractive to recruit enough doctors into these positions”.
“The evidence is clear – hospital-based specialties with the lowest ratios of trainee doctors to trainers (such as anaesthetics and radiology) are popular and attract higher numbers of applicants. This is because trainee doctors value one-to-one supervision and experience a better quality of training and learning. In contrast, other specialties including general and acute medicine are much less attractive due to an imbalance of service pressures and training time. As a result we have many vacancies around the UK. This is bad for patients, for doctors’ morale and recruitment”.
“We recognise that local service needs will influence the numbers and location of training opportunities in many sub-specialties through what is being called post-Certificate of Specialty Training credentialing. However the NHS must remain alert to the risk of further damaging the popularity of hospital medicine as a career if such opportunities are delayed or unavailable to ambitious and capable trainees”.
“The Shape of Training Report has recognised the tensions which exist between the competing demands of service provision and training. It is essential that the medical workforce is expanded at all levels to alleviate service and training pressures and to improve the training environment. Only by doing this will we be able to improve the quality of training for trainee doctors, make recruitment more sustainable and ultimately result in a higher quality of care for patients”.
ENDS
Contact Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07733-263453
[1] Shape of Training: securing the future of excellent patient care. Final report of the independent review led by Professor David Greenaway, October 2013. http://www.shapeoftraining.co.uk/1739.asp
