NHS 'in danger of collapse' amid exodus of senior medics, warn experts

Leading doctors have warned that the NHS is “in danger of complete collapse” after a poll revealed that more than two in five of the most senior hospital medics are planning to leave the NHS in the next year. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the NHS is “at breaking point” and called for immediate Government action.

It comes after a poll found that 44 per cent of hospital consultants in England plan to leave, or take a break from working in the NHS, over the next year.

Among consultant surgeons, this figure was 50 per cent. The BMA survey of almost 8,000 consultants suggested pay and pension tax arrangements were some of the reasons they planned to leave.

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Meanwhile nine in 10 consultants said this year’s pay rise of 4.5 per cent, was “inadequate” or “completely unacceptable”. The BMA said “punitive” rules on pension taxation have led to a tripling of doctors taking early retirement in the last 13 years, with the average retirement age now 59.

Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA consultants committee, said: “The NHS is already at breaking point and cannot afford to lose any of its staff, never mind facing the prospect of losing nearly half of its most senior doctors.

“Not only will this have a very significant adverse impact on patient care, this loss of doctors will simply result in increased pressure on those staff who remain in the workforce, further increasing the risk of burnout. After years of demoralising real-terms pay cuts and chronic staffing shortages, the NHS and its staff are on their knees.

“The Government must urgently demonstrate that it values the medical workforce by taking steps to