Financial pressures are taking their toll on medical training, a new junior doctor leader has warned. Dr Ben Molyneux, a general practice trainee in London, was elected as the new chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee.
Dr Molyneux has signalled that safeguarding the quality of training will be a key priority for the year ahead: “The economic climate in the NHS, coupled with major changes introduced by the Health and Social Care Act, has created a perfect storm for the potential erosion of high quality medical training. We have already seen evidence that the financial pressures are taking their toll on medical training. In the south of England some trainees have been forced to complete two placements in psychiatry because the Trust is short staffed. Junior doctors should not be denied a rounded training programme which exposes them to a range of specialties. “A recent survey showed that half of those questioned were more likely to leave the NHS to work overseas after training compared to two years ago. This would represent a massive potential loss to the NHS. Continued pay freezes and the raid on doctors’ pensions will further demoralise a profession who face an intense and lengthy training programme.”
