The College of Emergency Medicine today publishes a report entitled: Stretched to the Limit. This is based upon a survey of Emergency Medicine Consultants in the UK which had a 70% response rate (1077 respondents who work in Emergency Departments)
Key Findings For Northern Ireland From The Report
- 78% of A&E Consultants in Northern Ireland answered no when asked "is your job sustainable in its current form". This was the highest in any region of the UK.
- 50 out of the 56 A&E consultants in Northern Ireland completed the survey, this was the highest ratio in the UK and underlines the importance of government to listen to what the consultants are saying.
Failure to address the issues in a timely manner will result in significant risk and an inability to deliver safe, consistent care in our departments. Evidence confirms that burnout amongst EM physicians occurs at the highest rate of all medical specialities. There is also a very worrying trend developing of consultants seeking to move abroad after having been trained in the NHS. This will be explored further by the College but may well emerge as an additional powerful marker of poor EM working practices and environments in the UK.
The College calls for the following three key recommendations to be adopted to address these issues
1. Immediate action by Executive Boards of Trusts and commissioners to ensure that there is adherence to good job planning for consultants and other medical senior decision makers in Emergency Medicine.
2. An urgent review by the BMA and NHS Employers to consider ways in which safe and sustainable working practices for consultants and other medical senior decision makers in Emergency Medicine can be appropriately recognised, especially for out of hours and night time work to ensure adequate rest and recuperation.
3. It is vital that the Review by Sir Bruce Keogh provides a clear focus to address and improve urgent and emergency care system design to allow safe and effective delivery of care.
No Acute A&E Achieves Performance Target Of 95% of Patients Seen In Under 4 Hours - N Ireland - SAVE THE MID http://savethemid.weebly.com/1/post/2013/09/no-acute-ae-acheives-performance-target-of-95-of-patients-seen-in-under-4-hours-n-ireland.html