BMA claims 3,000 new junior doctors are out of work
Almost 3,000 newly qualified junior doctors are out of work, the British Medical Association claims. Nearly one in 10 new junior doctors was unable to find training posts in August, according to a BMA survey.
Over a third of those who had failed to find jobs, 35 per cent, said they were no longer looking for work in the NHS, with many having started applying for positions in Australia and New Zealand.
The questionnaire study suggests that the problem of medical unemployment has been dramatically underestimated and that around 900 doctors trained at a cost of £213.3 million could be lost to the NHS.
The Department of Health challenged the survey's findings, insisting that just over 100, or one in 40, pre-registration house officers (PRHOs), the lowest of the three junior doctor grades, were out of work in England.
Dr Jo Hilborne, chairman elect of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, said: "We know there's a problem and we're keen to work with the Government to help deal with it.
"These are people who are desperate to work for the NHS and have spent years of their lives in training at a huge cost to the taxpayer.
"Patients' healthcare needs are growing, the country is still short of doctors and we should be doing everything we can to prevent their skills from being wasted."
The BMA sent questionnaires to a random sample of 2,356 PHROs and senior house officers - the two most junior of the three training post grades - two weeks after the traditional August changeover. Of the 675 who responded, 65 had been unable to find work as a doctor in the UK, although there were few problems in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
If this proportion is the same among all 5,322 PHROs and 25,610 SHOs in the UK, this would equate to 2,969 junior doctors without jobs.
If all those who did not respond to the survey had found positions, it would still leave 830 juniors doctors out of post last month. While some of these may since have found temporary work, the vast majority of training posts have already been filled.
The BMA said the situation had arisen because of intense competition for training posts as a result of an increase in the number of medical school graduates and a rise in the number of overseas doctors training in the UK.
Figures produced by the University of Kent suggest it costs an estimated £237,000 to train a doctor to SHO level.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Entry into the SHO grade is competitive and, just as in many other areas of work, there has always been healthy competition for posts. We are working with the NHS to ensure that all our junior doctors find training posts."
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: "The Government should have foreseen this problem as it was exacerbated by the European Working Time Directive and the new consultants' contract."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2005/09/20/nbma20.xml&sSheet=/health/2005/09/20/ixhmain.html
Over a third of those who had failed to find jobs, 35 per cent, said they were no longer looking for work in the NHS, with many having started applying for positions in Australia and New Zealand.
The questionnaire study suggests that the problem of medical unemployment has been dramatically underestimated and that around 900 doctors trained at a cost of £213.3 million could be lost to the NHS.
The Department of Health challenged the survey's findings, insisting that just over 100, or one in 40, pre-registration house officers (PRHOs), the lowest of the three junior doctor grades, were out of work in England.
Dr Jo Hilborne, chairman elect of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, said: "We know there's a problem and we're keen to work with the Government to help deal with it.
"These are people who are desperate to work for the NHS and have spent years of their lives in training at a huge cost to the taxpayer.
"Patients' healthcare needs are growing, the country is still short of doctors and we should be doing everything we can to prevent their skills from being wasted."
The BMA sent questionnaires to a random sample of 2,356 PHROs and senior house officers - the two most junior of the three training post grades - two weeks after the traditional August changeover. Of the 675 who responded, 65 had been unable to find work as a doctor in the UK, although there were few problems in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
If this proportion is the same among all 5,322 PHROs and 25,610 SHOs in the UK, this would equate to 2,969 junior doctors without jobs.
If all those who did not respond to the survey had found positions, it would still leave 830 juniors doctors out of post last month. While some of these may since have found temporary work, the vast majority of training posts have already been filled.
The BMA said the situation had arisen because of intense competition for training posts as a result of an increase in the number of medical school graduates and a rise in the number of overseas doctors training in the UK.
Figures produced by the University of Kent suggest it costs an estimated £237,000 to train a doctor to SHO level.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Entry into the SHO grade is competitive and, just as in many other areas of work, there has always been healthy competition for posts. We are working with the NHS to ensure that all our junior doctors find training posts."
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: "The Government should have foreseen this problem as it was exacerbated by the European Working Time Directive and the new consultants' contract."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2005/09/20/nbma20.xml&sSheet=/health/2005/09/20/ixhmain.html
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