The RCPCH’s annual workforce survey, which received responses from staff from 157 children’s wards, found that 77 per cent believe workforce problems are “unsustainable”.
The main concern is a shortage of trainee paediatricians, particularly those in the middle of their eight-year training programme.
The RCPCH has made three main recommendations to address the situation:
The highest regional vacancy rates for trainee paediatricians was found to be in Northern Ireland, where 35.6 per cent of posts are vacant. In Wales the vacancy rate among the same group of experienced trainees is also high, at 27.5 per cent.
Neonatal wards, for babies up to 28 days old, are particularly hardest hit with almost a quarter (22.7 per cent) of paediatric posts vacant in December 2014.
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