Britain’s most senior casualty doctor and President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Cliff Mann, has stated that one third of Accident & Emergency doctors are fleeing the UK to work abroad. This is due to “toxic” levels of work pressure.

He stated that training a casualty doctor costs approximately half a million pounds. However, half of these doctors are now leaving their specialist areas within four years of being trained.

Dr Mann believes that the NHS needs to do more to stop the high levels of burnout amongst Accident & Emergency doctors as they are leaving due to being overworked and due to staff shortages.

This has resulted in further costs to the NHS as it is now having to spend as much on locum doctors in a fortnight as it would cost to run a whole Accident & Emergency unit for a year. To cover the shortages, Dr Mann has commented that:

“Trusts spend ever more money on locums to prop the whole thing up – which is why we are squandering £3 million a week on locums …… every fortnight we spend on locums what it costs to run an emergency department for a year.”

Additionally, due to the shortages, patients are having to wait longer in casualty and are having to endure poor care.

The majority of these doctors have emigrated to Australia, with the main reason being due to lower stress levels, and better resources.

Moosa-Duke Solicitors are concerned about the impact that this will have on patients and the care that they will receive. If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of clinical negligence, please feel free to call us for a no obligation discussion on 0116 254 7456.