Junior doctors 'left alone to cope with patients'

12 April 2012

Patients are being failed because of a shortage of hospital consultants, a doctor said today.

Tom Dolphin, vice chairman of the British Medical Association's junior doctors committee, said the NHS relied too much on junior doctors who are not qualified to treat the more serious cases. He said they were "under-supervised" and called on the NHS to appoint more doctors to senior positions to ensure patient safety.

Dr Dolphin, who works in hospitals across north-west London and who has been a junior doctor for seven years, added: "The big problem is nights, there is too much going on and just a skeletal staff to cover them. The NHS ought to be consultant-based."

His comments came as Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, which serves about one million people, announced it was temporarily closing its A&E and maternity departments because of shortages. South London Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has been criticised for leaving inadequately skilled temporary doctors to treat critically ill patients.

The London Deanery, which oversees the training of qualified doctors, is threatening to withdraw all trainee anaesthetists from Queen Elizabeth Hospital because of "major patient-safety concerns".

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