Doctor shortage 'to get worse'

There are fewer replacements for retiring doctors

The shortage of family doctors will worsen unless drastic action is taken, a British Medical Association report has concluded.

The BMA said the situation has already led to shorter consultations and longer waiting times.

And the problem is chronic in the south Wales valleys because junior doctors are refusing to follow their elders into full-time medicine.

The BMA found some doctors were disillusioned

The body, which represents general practitioners, surveyed doctors across the country, finding most in their early 20s want to retire early.

Four out of ten of the youngest GPs want to reduce their hours of work in the next five years.

Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the association's Welsh General Practitioners Committee, said: "We have a particular problem in some of the valleys of south Wales.

"The detailed analysis of our survey results by age demonstrates that matters are likely to get worse.

"The newest recruits to general practice are not intending to follow the same full-time career path as their older colleagues."

Radical changes

Carried out by the Welsh committee, the survey found more than three-quarters of the UK's youngest GPs are women.

Nine out of 10 doctors in their 30s feel child care should be improved for doctors, which could attract more practitioners.

The poll also found morale is higher among the younger doctors.

If we want to keep young doctors, radical changes must be made

Dr Tony Calland, British Medical Association

The findings of the survey are being used to inform the current negotiations between the BMA's General Practitioners Committee and the NHS Confederation on a new GP contract.

"If we want to keep young doctors in the profession, and recruit more family doctors, radical changes to working conditions have to be made now," Mr Calland added.

"It makes a successful outcome to the current negotiations for a new GP contract even more crucial."

The BMA research echoes the findings of research carried out by Nottingham University one year ago.

The association said younger GPs do not want to stay in the profession into their 60s because they have seen older doctors become disillusioned.