One in five junior doctors now works part-time, an increase of more than 50 percent in just three years, official figures show.
Some health leaders today backed the move, calling it a “positive step in the right direction” and saying it offered doctors a better work-life balance.
But it also means that more staff are inevitably needed to do the same amount of work.
This could hamper efforts to tackle the NHS’s longest ever waiting list for treatment.
In 2019/2020, approximately 8,523 trainee doctors worked ‘less than full-time’ – accounting for 15 percent of the workforce.
It comes as more and more doctors quit due to deteriorating working conditions and poor wages. Many are also retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or working in the private sector due to rising demand. Pictured yesterday are doctors and consultants on the picket line outside University College Hospital in London
England’s backlog of procedures such as hip and knee replacements now stands at 7.6 million, official figures revealed last week. It means about one in seven people across the country are currently stuck in the system awaiting care. More than 380,000 patients have not been treated for a year, often with pain
By 2022/2023, this number had increased to 13,312, representing 20 percent of trainees.
The increase is attributed to changes enforced last year by Health Education England (HEE), which regulates the contracts of doctors in training.
Until August 2022, doctors could only submit a request to work part-time under special circumstances.
Approved reasons included caring responsibilities, poor health or professional development.
However, HEE expanded its eligibility criteria last year, allowing trainee doctors to choose to work ‘less than full-time’ as a personal choice.
Announcing the move at the time, the body said it was ‘designed to improve retention, reduce turnover and improve the working lives of doctors in training by providing an opportunity for better work-life balance’.
The decision was also supported by officials from the Department of Health, NHS Employers, NHS England, the General Medical Council and the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee – who are currently coordinating the medical strike action.
Danny Mortimer, CEO of NHS Employers, said The times today: ‘HEE changed the ability for doctors to apply for part-time work in August 2022, so that more doctors can apply for this for valid reasons, whether that is for their well-being or out of personal choice.
‘This is a positive step in the right direction that will ensure the NHS keeps pace with the modern age and give doctors more flexibility, creating that all-important work-life balance.’
He added: ‘It stands to reason that if more people decide to work part-time, more staff will be needed to deliver the same amount of work. The long-term workforce plan provides an opportunity to recruit more physicians to address this.”
Meanwhile, Professor Sheona Macleod, medical director for medical reform at NHS England, told MailOnline: ‘The NHS has done significant work to listen to staff feedback and develop more flexible approaches to training so that more trainee doctors receive less than the full can undertake training. time options, including those who may have disabilities or significant caregiving responsibilities.
‘By making medical careers more tailored to the individual and supporting the wellbeing of doctors in training, this program is designed to attract more people to the profession and ensure a sustainable NHS workforce supply in the longer term.’
But others warned that the increase in part-time work could hamper efforts to reduce the NHS’s record waiting lists, leaving patients facing further delays for care.
Official figures released last week showed the list had risen again to a new high, with around 7.68 million patients in England – or one in seven people – queuing for procedures such as hip and knee replacements in July .
However, others point to the tension between balancing individual wishes for shorter working weeks and service delivery as the NHS looks to reduce a record waiting list of 7.7 million people.
This includes almost 390,000 patients who have waited at least a year for treatment, often in pain.
Under the NHS workforce plan published earlier this year in June, ministers pledged to double medical training places to 15,000 by 2031, with new schools and more places in areas with the greatest shortages
The plan pledges to increase the NHS’s permanent workforce by almost a million by 2036/2037. An increase is expected from 1.4 million to between 2.2 and 2.3 million
The number of medical training places will be doubled by 2031/32, bringing the total number of places to 15,000. GP training places in England for junior doctors will also increase by 50 per cent to 6,000, the NHS workforce plan has promised. Training for pharmacists will also increase by almost 50 percent to around 5,000 places by 2031/32. Meanwhile, training for clinical psychology and child and youth psychotherapy will also be expanded, with the number of places increasing by more than a quarter to 1,300 in 2031
It comes as more and more doctors quit due to deteriorating working conditions and poor wages.
Many are also retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or working in the private sector due to rising demand.
The latest figures show that Britain has 3.2 doctors per 1,000 people, placing the country 25th among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
However, this figure also represents the lowest number of doctors per capita among European countries in the OECD, the researchers note.
Earlier this month, a survey of 10,486 junior doctors from Britain’s 44 medical schools also found that one in three plan to emigrate to practice medicine, to places including Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada .
Around 60 percent of those surveyed were unhappy or not at all satisfied with the prospect of working in the NHS.
NHS Digital vacancy data shows that 7.2 per cent of medical posts were vacant in June.
In the NHS workforce plan published in June, ministers pledged to increase the permanent health workforce by almost a million by 2036/2037.
This will include between 60,000 and 74,000 additional doctors by 2036/2037, in addition to the 142,000 working for the health service from June.
Other measures in the plan also include doubling medical training places to 15,000 by 2031, with new schools and more places in areas with the greatest shortages.
Dr. Billy Palmer, a senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said today: ‘Making training within the NHS more accessible is crucial if Britain hopes to increase the number of home-trained doctors and other health professionals, retain trainees within the NHS and to help reduce our dependence on foreign workers.
‘Less-than-full-time training is becoming increasingly popular among physicians.’
He added: ‘The ability to work part-time and flexibly has benefits as it reduces stress and burnout and makes training more accessible for those with parental and caring responsibilities.’