NHS 450 psychiatrists short of a full couch
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.UP TO 450 top psychiatry jobs in the NHS are lying vacant, with senior doctors queuing up to retire early, writes Roger Dobson.
Increasing numbers ofpsychiatrists are leaving at 55, unhappy with the status of the job, concerned about being blamed when things go wrong after the discharge of a patient - and fed up with bureaucracy and high workloads.
The staffing crisis in psychiatry is exacerbated by the speciality remaining low on the list of jobs preferred by new doctors graduating from medical school.
Now the Government is being urged to investigate the problem and come up with some solution, including funding a large-scale recruitment drive.
Latest estimates suggest there are 453 consultant psychiatrist posts currently vacant out of a total of 3,300 such posts within the NHS.
"Both early retirement and recruitment are problem areas," says Dr Robin Arnold, chairman of the British Medical Association's psychiatry committee, who has called for the Government to take action to ease the crisis. "While physicians are accountable for what they do to a patient, psychiatrists are seen as being responsible for what their patients do," says Dr Arnold.
"Status is another problem," he added, "and there are also the demands of the job. Whereas a surgeon can operate and leave the hospital relatively untouched personally, you cannot deal with people who are severely depressed or who are reporting abuse, without being personally affected. It is very demanding and that does wear away at people over the years."
Last century, psychiatry was seen as an exciting new area of medicine. Now, it is regarded as one of the specialities that look after long-term disorders - a less popular field for doctors. Many of those leaving are thought to be moving into private practice.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments