Psychiatrist crisis 'catastrophic'

Published on Thursday 4 June 2009 21:50

MENTAL health services in the UK are facing a "catastrophic" shortage of psychiatrists, experts have warned.

Prof Robert Howard, dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), said the number of UK doctors was far too few to fill hundreds of training posts within the NHS.

He said there was an over-reliance on overseas doctors, and while some were "brilliant", many had communication difficulties. "Catastrophic is the word I would use for the shortage we are now facing," Prof Howard said.

"We have always struggled to recruit significant numbers but this year is particularly acute.

"It has got to the point where you can count the number of UK doctors coming into it in tens, when we have hundreds of training posts to fill.

"The doctors who are coming in from overseas to work in the UK: some are brilliant, and our president (Dinesh Bhugra] is a shining example. This is not being racist or unpleasant.

"But many of them have difficulties with communication and the nuances of the UK's culture. And if there is a speciality where it is essential to know the culture, it is psychiatry. There needs to be a balance."

Prof Howard said because of the lack of competition, jobs were given to some people who were "appointable" but "certainly not people who it fills our spirits to have given jobs to".

According to Channel 4 News Online, just one in eight doctors sitting postgraduate psychiatric exams this year was a UK graduate – a record low. The number of UK doctors sitting RCP exams was also at a record low.

A Scottish Government spokesman said job vacancy figures at the end of last September were 43 across all psychiatric specialities in NHS Scotland, but only 16 of these vacancies had been unfilled for six months.