Doctor 'Recruitment Crisis' Hits NI

A worrying shortage of young doctors is stretching an already severely cash-strapped health service to the limit, a leading medic warned today.

Following Health Minister Michael McGimpsey's announcement of pay awards for doctors and dentists, Dr David Farren, Chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctor Committee, said: "Doctors fully understand the serious financial strain the health service is under. However if we cannot recruit dedicated and talented doctors to work in Northern Ireland then we will end up with a third rate service.

"The BMA is extremely disappointed at the three month delay in announcing the outcomes of the pay award for local medics and that the award was cut by 0.5% for junior doctors.

"Colleagues in Great Britain have told me that they did not apply for jobs in Northern Ireland partly because of this delay, as they knew they could get similar jobs with known pay and conditions elsewhere," he explained.

"Junior doctors are a highly mobile workforce and will often apply for jobs that offer the best opportunity to learn with decent working conditions.

"It concerns us that doctors are being trained in Northern Ireland at a cost to the taxpayer of £250,000, but are then are forced to leave due to uncertainty over recruitment issues."

Dr Farren continued by underlining the 'cost' to student doctors: "Medical students finish their education with an average debt of £20,000 not including, for example, an average of £13,000 of credit card debt and overdrafts.

"Should Government decide to lift the cap on university tuition fees, which many fear will happen, the effect on medicine will be catastrophic with average medical graduate debt potentially reaching over £57,000.

"The starting salary for a junior doctor is just over £22,000," he explained.

"Proper investment in our junior doctor workforce is needed now to ensure that patients receive the best care possible in the future."

(BMcC/GK)