Hospital units that treat children and very sick babies are having to shut their doors temporarily to new patients because they are “dangerously” short of specialist staff, a new report reveals.



Widespread shortages of paediatric doctors and nurses also means that the care children receive is being put at risk, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

A chronic lack of staff is forcing doctors to take potentially life or death decisions about which patients to treat quickly, one paediatrician said. “Last night we only had one registrar instead of two. We had an emergency in A&E and [the] labour ward at the same time and she had to make a snap decision which to go to. It’s being forced to dice with death,” said the medic, who asked to remain anonymous.

Another paediatrician said: “It’s becoming normal to do the work of two or three so corners are constantly being cut and kids don’t get the time and attention they deserve.”

The RCPCH’s new report, based on information supplied by NHS trusts and boards across the UK, found that “in the year to September 2015, shortages of nurses and/or doctors led to periods of closure to new admissions by 31% of paediatric inpatient units and 41% of neonatal units”. Temporary closures have occurred since, as demand for children’s care and resulting admissions have soared. For example, Stafford County hospital had to shut its paediatric A&E unit last year.

“There simply aren’t enough doctors to meet the needs of infants, children and young people,” said Prof Neena Modi, the college’s president. “This is a dangerously under-resourced service, yet the means to address the situation exist. It is legitimate for us to ask why, when solutions exist, the health and wellbeing of children are being placed in jeopardy?”.

Its report warns that there are 241 vacancies for paediatricians across the NHS and that the number of young doctors choosing to specialise in that area has fallen 28% in the last two years alone.

“There is a serious shortfall in the paediatric workforce. Numbers have failed to keep pace with patient numbers leading to dangerous pressure on an already stretched service,” the report states.

Two in five (40%) of all UK paediatricians qualified abroad, including 6% who obtained their medical degree in a European Economic Area country. Modi urged ministers to guarantee their right to keep on working in the UK after Brexit in 2019 to help maintain the workforce.

“The health of our children is of the utmost importance and yet Theresa May’s utter disregard for our NHS has left children’s health in a desperate state of need,” said shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth. “Demand for children’s healthcare has peaked and yet children’s units are being forced to close under unprecedented pressure and the paediatric workforce has been dangerously stretched to its very limit.”

Another paediatrician said: “I’m often asked to work extra shifts to cover rota gaps. I try my best to help if I can because I know that one less doctor on a shift means an overstretched team and substandard care for our patients. I know because I have worked those shifts covering for two or more doctors and it is unsafe.”

Workforce data collated by NHS Digital shows that the number of paediatric doctors working in the NHS in England rose from 7,165 in January 2010 to 7,907 in January this year.