I read in today's Telegraph that "the NHS needs to adapt to take account of the rising number of health professionals who choose to work part-time as they see flexible working and career breaks “as a right”.
Prof Ian Cumming, chief executive of Health Education England, said the attitudes of so-called millennials – those born in the Eighties and early Nineties – were different to previous generations, with a much greater focus on “work-life balance”.
200,000 is the number of extra NHS staff needed to cope with pressures as demand for part-time roles rises
And he said the increasing number of women entering traditionally male-dominated health professions such as medicine meant the NHS needed to train far more staff, to cover the numbers working part-time."
Until now the NHS has claimed that it did not cost any more to train women, many of whom will eventually become part time at least for several years. I agree that it is good that people find a better balance between work and home, but at the same time, being a doctor has traditionally called for a sense of vocation. And being a GP is no more stressful than many senior white collar jobs where part time is not an option. I don't know what the answer is, perhaps we will all be expected to self diagnose using the internet but that is far from foolproof. And how many of these part time NHS doctors are also working privately? Not that they shouldn't but I suggest that all doctors trained in the the UK should have to committ to 5-10 years of full time NHS work. Likewise I think it immoral to take doctors from poor countries to fill our vacancies. In the near future I think healthcare will go the way of pensions - we will have to fund it ourselves.
