NHS faces potential surgeon 'crisis' warns RCS

Almost three thousand extra surgeons are needed in order to avert a shortage in the National Health Service (NHS) a report has warned.

A study by the Royal College of Surgeons (RSC), found that there was a shortfall of 1454 surgeons on the targets set for 2010. The RSC further warned that due to service needs and government changes an additional 2760 surgeons would be needed by 2010.

The report stated that action was needed, in order to avert the potential crisis, as it takes between six to ten years to train a surgeon.

There are currently 5214 surgeon consultants working in England and Wales.

Although the government had been using a number of short-term policies, such as international recruitment, to boost the number of surgeons, the RSC said a number of factors meant that there was now an urgent need for more surgeons.

The report highlighted NHS changes – including new technologies, treatment opportunities, increased training and education demands and increasing sub specialisation – as factors in the growing need for more surgeons. The RSC also said that the European Working Time Directive, which required staff to work shorter hours, and the increase in the number of surgeons choosing to take early retirement, also had an effect.

The NHS plan, launched in 2000, planned to increase the number of consultants in England by 2004 by 7,500, as well as introduce an additional 1000 specialist registrars and increase the number of medical students in the UK by 1000 by 2002. However, the RSC said that the only target that had been met was the increase in medical students.

Hugh Phillips, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "The College's prime responsibility is the improvement of surgical standards for patient care. Our survey shows that, because of the numerous changes in the NHS, more surgeons are required if they are to deliver patient safety. The NHS improvements are welcome, but the government has failed in its calculations as to who is actually going to do the work. The target-driven environment of the NHS is not conducive to the provision of quality training for junior surgeons, nor to the prioritising of patients in order of clinical need."

Mr Phillips also said that the RSC had the experience and vision to develop the efficiency and efficacy of training methods, but stressed that financial resources were "urgently required" in order to do this.

He added: "This must be a large and long-term investment".

(KMcA/SP)