As a paediatrician I've seen first-hand the shocking human cost of staff shortages

As a paediatrician I've seen first-hand the shocking human cost of staff shortages Thousands of children’s operations are being cancelled as political short-termism savages the NHS. Solutions exist, but are being ignored

This week, figures published in the Guardian provided another sorry illustration of how NHS services have been pushed to the brink. More than 46,000 children’s operations were cancelled during the period 2013-14 to 2017-18, and that was just in the 53% of eligible NHS trusts that reported their figures. The numbers are shocking, all the more so as they clearly reflect only the tip of the iceberg. Children’s operations are not conducted without good clinical reason: delays are harmful, and for some children the damage may be long-term.

The reasons cited by the NHS trusts are predominantly related to workforce. As a frontline clinician I witness first-hand the human cost of staff shortages, and last month the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), of which I am president, also published a workforce report identifying serious staffing shortages nationwide, which has forced several children’s services to close temporarily. There are currently about 240 paediatric consultant-level posts empty and children’s services have an average junior doctor vacancy rate of 14%. Continue reading... The Guardian