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News of Jan
4, 2007
Britain's NHS to Face
Glut of Specialists by 2011
London,
Jan 4
British medical experts believe the National Health Service (NHS)
will face a glut of specialist doctors by 2011, a situation expected
to further reduce the employability of doctors of Indian origin.
New documents leaked to the Health Service Journal show that
according to a draft workforce strategy from the department of
health, NHS in England is heading for an unwanted surplus of 3,200
consultants by March 2011, "which we cannot afford to employ".
Changes in the doctors training scheme announced in April 2006 have
made it difficult for non-European doctors to seek work in NHS. Due
to a larger number of British students graduating from medical
schools and a European Union-wide employment pool, doctors from non-EU
countries have been placed lower in the employability order.
Several hospital trusts in Britain are facing budgetary cuts,
forcing them to reduce the numbers of doctors and nurses employed.
Many trusts have outsourced medical transcription to India to reduce
costs and meet budget deficits.
According to the documents, there would also be 16,200 too many
therapists, scientists and technicians, but also shortages of 14,000
nurses, 1,200 general practitioners and 1,100 junior doctors. This
situation, it believes, will cause serious disruption of services.
During the current financial year, there has been a 2.7 percent cut
in the NHS workforce to eliminate overspending.
Officials admit that government policies are contributing to huge
swings in demand for staff.
After a 2.7 percent cut in the workforce in the current financial
year to eliminate NHS overspending, there will be a recruitment
surge to prepare trusts to meet a December 2008 deadline to reduce
maximum waiting times to 18 weeks. Demand for nurses and doctors
would then dip after the deadline passes.
The document, written Nov 27, was leaked to the Health Service
Journal and The Guardian said its authenticity was not challenged by
the department.
A health department spokesperson said: "To portray a responsible
piece of planning as another crisis for NHS is alarmist
mischief-making on a grand scale. This work is at an early stage ...
Some of these ideas will be dropped and some will become policy."
IANS
News of Jan
4, 2007
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