UK has fewer doctors per person than Bulgaria and Estonia Last summer MPs on the Health Select Committee warned that only one in five casualty wards in England had enough consultants on duty, leading it to conclude that "A&E departments are in crisis." Rehana Azam, GMB National Officer for the NHS said: "Enough is enough, there can be no more cuts to budget or staffing. There is so much pressure on NHS staff because of the shortage and the huge number of patients they treat. It's extremely worrying, particularly as we are facing the toughest winter in years. Dr Paul Flynn, Chair of the British Medical Association Consultants Committee, said: "Policy makers need to get a grip on NHS workforce planning. Projected imbalances between different specialties will have serious implications for patient care and we are already seeing the effect of staff shortages in key areas such as emergency care. In addition, despite the pledge to protect front-line services, many employers in the NHS are freezing recruitment in response to financial pressures. Dr Flynn said that staffing levels must be aligned to meet "the changing demands of patients" and address issues such as workload pressures and work-life balance that might be deterring medical graduates. Doctors in the NHS face increasingly challenging, high pressured and stressful work environments, often with limited resources and gruelling workloads. Only by making working practices and environments safe and sustainable will the NHS be able attract and retain the required number and mix of doctors," he said. According to OECD data, the number of doctors per head of population in the UK has been increasing from just 1.9 per 1,000 in 2000, when European average stood at 2.9. The UK has seen more rapid growth than others, narrowing the gap against the European average, which had grown to 3.4 per 1,000 in 2010. The OECD says the number of doctors in the UK increased again in 2011, to 2.8 per 1,000. Analysis by Plaid Cymru last year showed Wales had the fewest doctors per 1,000 at 2.5, while England and Northern Ireland had 2.7 per 1,000. Scotland by contrast dragged up the average, with 3.1 per 1,000. A Department of Health spokesperson said the number of doctors in the NHS was rising. The number of doctors in the NHS has gone up on average by 3.5 per cent each year over the past 10 years, and there are over 6,600 more doctors than in May 2010. At the same time, the number of admin staff, managers and senior managers has fallen by nearly 23,000.