14-01-2014, 01:33 PM
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The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
I debated where to put this article but thought here was more appropriate than the Health section as it deals more with political policies - feel free to move it Mods if you think it more appropriate elsewhere.Spending on locum doctors to plug the gaps in A&E units in England has risen by 60% in three years, figures show.
The data obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act showed £83.3m was spent last year, up from £52m in 2009-10.
Employing locum doctors can cost £1,500 a shift, four times as much as filling a shift with permanent staff.
A government spokeswoman said retaining A&E doctors was a long-standing problem in the NHS.
Dr Cliff Mann, of the College of Emergency Medicine, said: "This sort of spending is very unwise.
"It is not an efficient way of spending NHS money and can be damaging for morale when doctors work alongside other, sometimes less qualified doctors, who are earning much more.
"But this has really been building for the past decade. There has been a lack of job planning and it is now very hard to attract doctors to this speciality."
Research by the college has suggested half of trainee posts are going unfilled.
It believes the unsocial hours and pressures on A&E departments have made it less attractive than other areas of medicine.
Conservative MP Dr Dan Poulter, a health minister who works part-time as a doctor, said: "There has been for many years a problem.
"It was first flagged up in 2004 under the previous government about recruiting doctors into A&E and it takes six years to train A&E doctors, so this well pre-dates the current government."
When I was younger, it was quite common for children to want to be doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, etc - why has that all changed?
Is it the grossly unreasonable demands placed on A&E doctors that is putting them off training? If so, why doesn't it put off the nurses who work in A&E?
Given the endless tinkering that goes on with the NHS, why has this problem been ignored for nearly 10 years?
Should more effort be put in to making A&E as much a desirable place for doctors to work as anywhere else? And start making the vocation appealing to young people?
What changes do you think could be made to entice youngsters to see this area as a career opportunity?
14-01-2014, 01:59 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
Well having been a patient and accompanying patients to A&E I would suggest removing the drunks and mental health problems from this system would be a good start. I saw a lovely Doctor and two nurses horribly treated by two drunks last time I was there and apart from drinking too much there was nothing wrong with either of them they just didn't need A&E services.Mental health should also be dealt with else where, the doctors are not trained to deal with them and they need different services.
14-01-2014, 02:17 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
That sounds a very good idea. Would the hospital staff need to divert attention to check on them though? What if one of the drunks choked whilst being kept there - the hospital could be held liable. Maybe better to just call the police and have them removed and kept in a cell overnight at the police station.14-01-2014, 02:45 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
I am pretty certain we have enough unemployed people who could look after the cells in exchange for their benefits, we already have them working in supermarkets helping private businesses so why not use them to help the public sector in some way ?
14-01-2014, 04:26 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
Originally Posted by ben-varrey
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That sounds a very good idea. Would the hospital staff need to divert attention to check on them though? What if one of the drunks choked whilst being kept there - the hospital could be held liable.
14-01-2014, 04:32 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
Well nothing says it has to be health care, prison or police cells or some sort of separate drunk tank could be used.TBH it's hard for me to be too sympathetic, get into that state and you really have no one to blame but yourself if things go wrong.
14-01-2014, 04:49 PM
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Re: The Cost of A&E Locum Doctors
Originally Posted by Julie1962
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Well nothing says it has to be health care, prison or police cells or some sort of separate drunk tank could be used. TBH it's hard for me to be too sympathetic, get into that state and you really have no one to blame but yourself if things go wrong.
Just dont bother with them .....
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