Russell Worth is backing leading doctors’ groups across the UK in taking a stand against recently announced proposals to reduce in-job training times for qualified doctors.
The proposals, which could have a serious impact on patient care and safety, will likely see the time it takes to qualify at consultant level shortened by two years.
As it stands at the moment, doctors spend their first two years after graduation on a rota basis, placed in around six different areas of medicine with many then specialising within one area and staying in that area until they get to consultant level. This process currently takes between eight and 10 years, but the new proposals mean the time taken now could be cut to between six and eight years.
The British Medical Association has called for the government to “pause” policy development so that safety concerns can be addressed and any changes piloted in smaller studies before being rolled out nationally.
A spokesman said lots of doctors were “concerned” about the proposals and that they “wouldn’t be able to achieve the same necessary level of expertise for patients as at present”.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Changes affecting the future medical workforce cannot and should not be rushed. The government need to listen to the concerns raised by the BMA and other stakeholders now that the report is out.”
The Royal College of Physicians has expressed concern too, warning that reducing doctors’ training would “compromise both quality of patient care and patient safety”.
In 2013, the Shape of Training review, chaired by Sir David Greenaway of the University of Nottingham, assessed the current level of specialist doctor training and made 19 recommendations for changes to medical training.
Ian Eardley, a council member of the Royal College of Surgeons, said the plans to modify medical training were “necessary to meet the changing needs of patients” with an increasingly elderly population.
“Training needs to give doctors the competencies and experience they need to deliver high quality care and should not be determined solely by time served,” he said.
“Plans need to look at the over-reliance on trainees in delivering the service, particularly at night, where training opportunities are limited. A one-size fits all approach will not work for all medical training – medical specialities should be able to tailor the way they implement the review’s recommendations.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the changes would only happen if they were in the “best interests of patients”.