Doctors oppose cuts to training budget
pharmafile | March 24, 2006 | News story | |Â Â Â
Doctors' leaders have spoken out against cutbacks to the medical training budget, which they warn could seriously harm patient services.
The British Medical Association says government plans to cut training costs by 10% could hit the quality of patient services, worsen the financial crisis facing NHS trusts, and cause doctors' posts to be cut.
It says postgraduate medical deaneries – regional bodies that oversee doctors' training – are facing a 10% reduction in government funding in the next financial year. The BMA's Junior Doctors Committee has written to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt seeking an assurance that the cut will not take place.
Dr. Jo Hilborne, chairman of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, says: "Faced with cuts in previous years, deaneries have come close to denying doctors the opportunity to take courses to learn essential skills like advanced life-saving. The same thing now would ultimately hit patients because poorly trained doctors will provide a lower quality service. We hope the NHS will remain committed to training doctors to the highest possible standard."
Deaneries also pay part of junior doctors' salaries, and a cut to their funding would leave a shortfall that would have to be picked up by the NHS. The BMA is concerned that this will have a knock-on effect on trusts that are struggling financially.
"Deaneries' workloads are increasing as a result of medical training reforms and an increasing number of NHS providers," added Dr. Hilborne.
"This is the worst possible time for them to have their budgets cut. If they can't pay to provide the doctors our hospitals need, the cost will fall on NHS trusts. Given the huge debts the NHS is currently facing, hospitals will be forced to make a choice between cutting posts and running up higher debts. Either way, it's bad news for patients."
The cutbacks are part of an NHS-wide effort to reduce budget deficits, with some estimates putting overspends in England at as much as 750 million pounds.
The opposition Conservative party says between 15,000 and 20,000 jobs could be axed in the NHS because of the cash crisis, saying one in three hospitals are in debt, with many making 10% of staff redundant.
Hospital trusts across England have already announced more than 4,000 job cuts in the last few weeks as an emergency measure to balance their books.
