BMA response to Government National Health Service workforce figures

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 21 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Chairman of the BMA (British Medical Association) Consultants Committee, Dr Paul Miller, made the following statement:

'The BMA welcomes the increase in doctors and the opening of four new medical schools. The UK is critically short of doctors so we desperately need more to be trained up.

The Government is currently considering shortening medical training and it is vital that in its drive to meet consultant recruitment targets it does not sacrifice quality.

The BMA has already written to the (UK) Health Secretary, John Reid, about the plans. We have expressed our strong concern regarding his public statement that more patients could be treated more quickly if not all doctors reached the same qualifications as the present consultants.

The last thing patients want is a lowering of standards for doctors' training. It is therefore vital that the gold standard of consultant training is protected.'

http://www.bma.org.uk