Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Consultant Workforce in the UK: reducing consultant numbers resulting from recruitment issues, pension pressures, changing job-plans, and demographics when combined with the COVID backlog in elective surgery, requires urgent action

Autor: Patrick Magennis, Austen Smith, Anne Begley, Iain Hutchison, Daljit K. Dhariwal
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. 60:14-19
ISSN: 0266-4356
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2021.10.011
Popis: Introduction/Aims Mean retirement age for UK doctors is 59.6 years giving the average OMFS consultant approximately 20 years of practice. Current pension tax regulations, new consultant posts having 10 sessions (40 hours), increasing proportions of consultants working less than full time (LTFT) all combined with the backlog of elective care created by COVID-19 will create a significant gap between workforce capacity and clinical demand. Materials and Methods The age of current OMFS consultants was estimated using the date of their primary medical/dental qualification. Changes in job plans were estimated using data from the BAOMS Workforce Census and from recently advertised posts. Reports of unfilled posts were collated by OMFS Regional Specialty Professional Advisors (RSPAs). Results First degree dates were identified for 476 OMFS substantive consultant posts. Estimated current average age was 52.7 years (minimum 35.9, maximum 72.1), 75th centile age 59.0 with 23% of the current consultant workforce above the average retirement age for doctors. New consultant posts consisted of 10 sessions (40 hours), whereas existing consultants average 12.1 sessions (48.4 hours). Unfilled consultant posts in Great Britain are 13 % of total compared to 20% in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Conclusions Many (23%) of the OMFS consultant workforce are above average retirement age. Forty-hour contracts; new consultants working LTFT; and early loss of senior colleagues because of pension pressure will reduce NHS’ capacity to treat OMFS disorders and injuries. This paper suggests increasing consultant posts, increasing trainee numbers and actively retaining senior surgeons to maintain capacity.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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