By Sophie Borland Tens of thousands of doctors and nurses are facing the axe despite Government promises to protect the NHS from cuts, a report suggests. Almost 100,000 hospital posts could be at risk across the country, the vast majority of them frontline staff who are caring for patients. At the same time trusts are wasting tens of thousands of pounds on unused hi-tech equipment and drugs and leaving televisions switched on in empty wards. The Royal College of Nursing has identified almost 27,000 jobs under threat in 100 hospitals. If the figure is extrapolated across all 400 primary care trusts,...

The control of evaluating the competence and language skills of doctors will be handed over to the NHS in England from EU, as some imperfections have come out in the current system of inspections. As per the plans of the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, the management and control of primary care services will be shifted to GP consortium from local NHS trusts, but for the checks on foreign doctors, which are currently carried out by Europe, a new central board will be established. Last year, Daniel Ubani, a German doctor, during his shift in UK unintentionally gave 70 years old David Gray an overdose...

(Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare reform law will worsen a shortage of physicians as millions of newly insured patients seek care, the Association of American Medical Colleges said on Thursday. The group’s Center for Workforce Studies released new estimates that showed shortages would be 50 percent worse in 2015 than forecast. “While previous projections showed a baseline shortage of 39,600 doctors in 2015, current estimates bring that number closer to 63,000, with a worsening of shortages through 2025,” the group said in a statement. “The United States already was...

Carol Sorgen For years now, we’ve been hearing about the nursing shortage in this country. Is that still the case? On the whole, yes, say nurse recruiters throughout the Washington metropolitan area, though there has been a temporary “blip” as a result of the recession. “The economy has certainly had an impact on the job market for nurses, as nurses who were planning to retire have delayed those plans, part-time nurses have requested additional hours, and full-time nurses have sought additional shifts,” says Dennis Hoban, Senior Director of Recruitment for Washington...

The Scottish government is being urged to safeguard vital services as nurses and midwives are forced to fight to secure NHS jobs. In a bid to save money, health boards are resorting to “unsustainable tactics” including not replacing people and freezing posts, which is affecting available positions for newly trained nurses, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland said. The measures could have “devastating consequences” for future patient care, the union warned. This year nearly 4,000 NHS posts will be cut, including 1,500 midwifery and nursing jobs, Health Secretary...

Andrew Lansley’s radical reforms will see GPs commission care for their patients, with no opt-out and no extra pay Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, will announce the biggest shakeup of the National Health Service since its creation in 1948 with radical proposals in a white paper on Monday. It will include plans to use markets, not targets, to improve performance, hand £80bn of taxpayers’ money to thousands of family doctors, and free foundation hospitals to leave the state sector and become “not for profit” companies. Read more…

By Faris Al-Qahtani RIYADH – Inspections carried out by Control and Investigation Board (CIB) teams in various hospitals found 572 non-Saudi doctors and nurses practicing medicine with forged qualifications. The CIB, in a report that is to be discussed at the Shoura Council, said that it discovered during its inspections that the laboratory in the Baish Hospital in Baish governorate had disposed of radiology waste in sewage. The CIB teams also discovered a number of shortcomings, including a lack or unavailability of necessary medical equipment, shortage of medical, technical and nursing cadres...

Scotland’s health minister faced accusations of risking patient care after announcing almost 4,000 NHS jobs will be axed this year. Nicola Sturgeon said about 3,790 posts will be scrapped in the health service, including 1,523 nurses and midwives and 1,053 administrators. She insisted patients will not be affected by the cuts and assured staff there will be no compulsory redundancies, with the final total only decided after trade unions have been consulted. But Labour and doctors’ leaders warned the cuts cannot be made without affecting front line services because the NHS is operating at...

By Daily Mail Reporter A shortage of junior doctors is forcing the NHS to recruit hundreds of doctors from India this year. Tighter immigration rules introduced three years ago meant many overseas medics left the UK instead of taking up training posts. This, combined with European regulations restricting doctor working hours and childcare breaks, has left dozens of hospitals struggling to fill vacancies. The medics are needed across a range of specialities from obstetrics and gynaecology to paediatrics and accident and emergency. Professor Derek Gallen, who is postgraduate dean of medical training...

Health authority accused of having ‘warped priorities’ By ADAM MORRIS NHS LOTHIAN has created a new £100,000-a-year human resources role as part of the same strategy which will axe 333 nurses, it can be revealed today. It has emerged that while health chiefs want to slim the workforce by 2,000 over the next two years, an assistant director of HR has been appointed – on the wage of four nurses. Patient groups and politicians, who have campaigned for frontline workers to be protected, are furious that a six-figure salary could be given for a role that has not existed for at least...