Our doctors deserve better than this from Ministers – Yorkshire Post Letters

THE NHS People Plan comes at a time when the NHS is possibly in the most precarious state it has ever been – in the midst of a pandemic – which has served as 
a stark reminder of just how much we depend on the workforce for our NHS to survive and succeed.

Initiatives such as the appointment of wellbeing guardians, boosting the mental health workforce, tackling violence against staff, and improving occupational health standards will make an important difference to the lives of staff and the development of a more open and inclusive 
culture.

What is important now is delivering these plans in a timely manner so that these long-overdue aspirations become a reality. The BMA will continue to work with Government to bring about real change for the better in these areas.

We are significantly short of doctors compared with our EU neighbours, and also without equivalent levels of hospital beds and community facilities.

This has resulted in doctors being exhausted and pressured to work in an environment lacking adequate infrastructure, with almost a third of doctors telling us they are experiencing emotional distress or mental health issues that have 
become worse during the pandemic.

We, therefore, need greater clarity on the scale of plans to expand the workforce to ensure that this goes far enough to address the historic levels of understaffing in the health service. We also need to see more detail on how the Government intends to retain staff.

It is also crucial that the plan factors in the wider demand now being placed on the NHS, and therefore, the workforce, with a growing backlog of millions of non-covid patients who have not received care during the pandemic.

Delivering this will require new resources; it is vital that the Government matches these ambitions with a transparent long-term costed funding plan.

From: Barry Foster, High Stakesby, Whitby.

I HAVE listened carefully each day to the Government news and advice, and have tried to comply as best I could for the sake of my family. It is such a pity that there are a section of our society who simply do not do the correct thing.

Perhaps they may thing they are immune to catching the virus or even passing it on. The past months have really done nothing to restore my faith in some of the people I have to live with.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor.