‘Who will deliver our babies?’ asked an alarmed Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) yesterday.
It issued three stark warnings: ‘Unless recruitment improves there will be insufficient obstetricians to deliver the NHS service.
‘Even immediate reversal will take seven years to produce significant effects.
‘Presently there are approximately 1,500 consultants and this must rise to 2,500 if the College’s quality and safety issues are to be realised.’
The College stressed that ‘increased consultant presence on the labour ward is essential to improve care’.
In its recruitment working party report, A Career in Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Recruitment and Retention in the Specialty, the College says there is much scope and many attractions to working in the specialty.
It adds: ‘However, in recent years the specialty has seen a decline in the numbers of UK graduates entering its ranks.
‘In 1995 O&G (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) was the main career choice of 26 out of 545 doctors, in 1998 this was 16 out of 509 and by 2002, only six out of 487.
‘In 2004, 171 candidates were admitted to the Membership of the RCOG. Only 12 were graduates of UK universities, and of these, only three were male.’
Professor Allan Templeton, President of the RCOG warns: ‘The future of obstetrics and gynaecology and the future of women’s health care in this country depends on a reversal and focused response to this stark reality.’
The College says that the reasons for the decline in recruitment seem to be ‘negative perceptions’ around career opportunities, as well as ‘undergraduate experience of the specialty, uncertainty around future consultant responsibilities and issues around training and particularly work-life balance.’
It says: ‘A positive undergraduate experience is one of the major determinants of career choice. It is apparent however, that students today have less exposure to the type of clinical experience, particularly in the delivery suites that in the past attracted individuals to O&G.’
The government is attempting to fill the gaps with overseas doctors.
Meanwhile, the College pledges: ‘The RCOG will be more active in ensuring that training programmes and consultant job plans reflect adequate work-life balance, particularly where shift patterns include night work.’
• Second news story
DEREK BENNET ‘LAWFULLY KILLED’ SAYS HIGH COURT
Relatives of Derek Bennett reacted angrily yesterday when a High Court judge upheld an inquest verdict that police marksmen acted lawfully when they shot him dead in Brixton, south London on 16 July 2001.
Bennett’s mother leapt to her feet, crying out: ‘They murdered him. They murdered him. They murdered my son.’
The two officers who shot Bennett, 26, four times, claimed that they had felt in danger from a gun-shaped lighter he was brandishing. The officers maintained they believed the gun was real.
Another relative shouted: ‘How many times do they have to shoot a man before they consider him harmless?’
The family’s counsel Michael Mansfield QC, told the High Court that the Southwark coroner had been anxious to protect the police from an improper verdict against them and so effectively ‘became the jury’.
As a result, the 11 jurors had no alternative but to return a verdict clearing the police. But Mr Justice Collins rejected the argument.
Bennett’s brother Daniel said the judge’s decision was ‘disappointing’ but ‘expected’ and the family will be taking the case to the Court of Appeal.
