A&E decision is ‘regrettable but correct’ says doctors’ chairman

Dr Farren, who himself trained at the Lagan Valley, said he has been trying to raise awareness of the shortage of junior doctors for the last two years and that the problem is not confined to Northern Ireland, but is affecting the whole of the UK.

Changes to immigration laws and doctors working hours have resulted in vacancies in a number of specialities, including obstetrics and emergency medicine, but Dr Farren insists work is being done to fill the gaps.

“There is a UK wide shortage of junior doctors,” explained Dr Farren. “This has been the case since 2007 and it has got worse year on year. The gaps are at a specific level, at what used to be the Registrar grade. It is not just a case of bringing people in at the bottom level. The vacancies are for senior junior doctors and cannot be filled by graduates straight out of medical school.

“I have been the Chairman of the Junior Doctors’ Committee for two years and this has been the story over those two years. I have been warning that services would have to close.

“The vast majority of things that could have been done have been done. The Medical and Dental Training Agency went on a recruitment drive to the Indian sub-continent but unfortunately that didn’t yield a great number of doctors, mainly because of immigration control and because they couldn’t secure visas.

“They also put tenders out to bring doctors from mainland Europe and I am told some have been recruited from Eastern Europe.

“There is not a single person to blame for the current situation,” he continued. “Workforce planning in the past has not been as good as it should have been. There was a report in 2006 that looked at workforce planning which stated the number of doctors needed but what they didn’t foresee was the European Working Time Directive because there was an exception for doctors. Over the past ten years they have been trying to increase the number of doctors but the problem worsened with the change to immigration rules.

“At the minute the decision to close the A&E at Lagan Valley at night is the correct one, We don’t have enough staff. It is a difficult decision but the right one. Patient safety cannot be compromised.

“This shortage of doctors is not just in Northern Ireland and hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales are having to do the same thing.

“The BMA has been saying for a number of years that we need a reconfiguration of services in a planned way so that services are not lost and departments are not closed so quickly.

“It is regrettable that Lagan Valley A&E cannot stay open 24/7 but we are glad the decision has been made. It is our responsibility to inform people properly and let people know the true reasons. We have limped along and the rota gaps have increased. Bringing in doctors at the bottom end, which is good in the long term, doesn’t effect things in the short term. These gaps will be there for another two years. The recent graduates from Queens will have to finish their pre-registration and in two years time they will be applying for registrar level jobs and they will start to make these gaps less of a problem.

“Medical schools have increased student numbers so we have five years worth of medical students to fill the gaps but people starting in September face the real chance of coming out and not having a job to go to. It is worrying that we are training doctors who will end up travelling outside the UK to work, or even worse, letting their degree go to waste.

“Having worked in the Lagan Valley, it is a hospital in which I thought I got the best training of my career and it is regrettable that this has happened but it is not helpful for fingers to be pointed at junior doctors. Junior doctors have worked very hard to ensure this doesn’t happen. Rather than slinging mud we should be working together to prevent this happening again,” he concluded.

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