Junior doctors leaving the NHS: what would it mean for general practice?

[摘要] The results of a recent British Medical Association (BMA) survey,1 asking junior doctors their views on: ‘ what life is like in 2022 as a junior doctor … everything from the cost of living crisis and the burden of student debt, to their future career plans and their ability to take time off’ should send a reverberating shudder to the heart of the NHS, including through general practice upon which the health system stands.Over 4500 of the 71 000 or so junior doctors in England2 — who are all qualified doctors but not yet practising as consultants or GPs — responded to the survey between 21 November and 4 December 2022. Of the 3819 responders, 79% agreed with the statement: ‘I often think about leaving the NHS’, 65% with the statement: ‘I have actively researched leaving the NHS in the last 12 months’, and 40% with the statement: ‘I am planning to take a career break in the next 12 months’.1Of the 2698 responders who strongly agreed that they were thinking of or planning to leave the NHS, the most commonly cited reasons were the level of current pay, deteriorating working conditions, pay erosion since 2008/2009, below-inflation pay award in 2022/2023, and increased workload (each of these reasons was cited by over 75% of such responders).1CAREERS OUTSIDE THE NHS Of the 3579 responses, 76%, 72%, and 69% were aware of a junior doctor friend or colleague who had left the NHS in the last 12 months to work as a doctor in a different role or profession, and to take a career break, respectively.1 Of the 1358 responders who were actively planning to change career to work in a new role or profession, 14% were targeting management consulting, 13% private medical practice, 12% the pharmaceutical industry, and 6%, IT/technology professions. Finally, for the 33% of the 3819 responders who were planning to work in another country in the next 12 months, Australia (42%) and New Zealand (20%) were the most popular destinations.1Despite these figures undoubtedly suffering from a significant dose of selection bias — the most disaffected junior doctors are more likely to respond to a survey relating to their grievances — they are paradoxically both astonishing and yet in keeping with recent trends.

[学科分类] 卫生学