Jeremy Hunt has 'no clear plan over chronic shortage' of emergency doctors
A report by the all-party Public Accounts Committee found NHS trusts were having to rely on temporary staff to fill the gaps, adding to cost and bureaucracy
Jason BeattieHead of politics
No plan: Jeremy Hunt (Image: PA)
Jeremy Hunt is to be blasted by MPs over the "chronic shortage" of emergency doctors.
A withering report says nearly one in five hospitals in England does not have enough full-time A&E consultants.
The all-party Public Accounts Committee found NHS trusts were having to rely on temporary staff to fill the gaps, adding to cost and bureaucracy.
The MPs say that despite the crisis, the Health Secretary has no clear plan for increasing the number of A&E doctors.
At the same time emergency wards were under increased pressure with admissions up 47% in the last 15 years.
"Neither the Department nor NHS England has a clear strategy for tackling the chronic shortage of A&E consultants.
"Many hospitals, and especially those facing the greatest challenges, struggle to fill vacant posts for A&E consultants," the report says.
It adds: "There is too great a reliance on temporary staff to fill gaps, which is expensive and does not offer the same quality of service."
The Committee says the Coalition's shake-up of the NHS means it is not clear who is "accountable" for overseeing and recruiting A&E doctors.
"We are not convinced that the Department has a clear vision of how to address either the immediate or longer term shortage of A&E consultants.
"It is not clear who is accountable for the performance of local urgent and emergency care systems, and for intervening when local provision is not working effectively," it says.
As a result the delivery of A&E care is "fragmented" and unnecessarily expensive, the MPs say.
Shortage: At the same time wards are under increased pressure (Image: PA)
The chair of the Committee, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, said it was "amazing" that neither the Department of Health nor NHS England had a strategy to tackle the lack of doctors.
"Any attempt to improve emergency admissions services in the NHS is being completely stymied by the chronic shortage of specialist A&E consultants.
"Nearly one fifth of consultant posts in emergency departments were either vacant or filled by locums in 2012.
"There are also major problems in training enough doctors in emergency medicine. In 2012, only 18.5% of first year of higher training posts were filled," she said.
She added: "With many hospitals struggling to fill vacant posts for A&E consultants , there is too much reliance on temporary staff to fill gaps.
"This is expensive and just does not offer the same quality of service.
"Struggling hospitals, such as those placed in special measures, find it even harder to attract and retain consultants.
"There are currently no incentive payments to make working in these hospitals a more attractive prospect."