NHS warned over ageing population

Doctors in England have warned that a shortage of specialists to look after the country's rising number of elderly people is a looming crisis for its National Health Service, known as the NHS.

New figures published by the Royal College of Physicians, or RCP, show there is the equivalent of just one full-time geriatrician per 8,031 people over the age of 65 in England.

In a news release, the RCP said England was "sleepwalking into an avoidable crisis of care for older people".

It said that by the year 2040 there could be as many as 17 million over-65s, and it highlighted that many doctors will soon be requiring geriatric care themselves as nearly half of the consultant geriatricians are due to retire within the next decade.

The organization reached its conclusion by merging its own surveys of physicians with population data from the Office for National Statistics, or ONS.

The RCP said the NHS is "drastically short of staff across all services and specialties" and called for better workforce planning.

Andrew Goddard, the president of the RCP, said: "There simply aren't enough doctors to go round, not least within geriatrics.

"I have dedicated my career to working in the NHS - a service that I am fiercely proud of - and yet it scares me to wonder what might happen should I need care as I get older.

"The workforce crisis we're facing is largely down to an astonishing lack of planning. All successful organizations rely on long-term workforce planning to meet demand and it's absurd that we don't do this for the NHS and social care system. The government needs to… make workforce planning a priority."

Jennifer Burns, the president of the British Geriatrics Society, called for urgent action. "It is absolutely vital that these fundamental issues around the recruitment, retention, development and support of the workforce are addressed, and that there is a properly resourced strategy for future needs," she said.

Medical groups in England are calling for changes to government policy on health care planning, currently being debated in Parliament, noted The Guardian.

Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of NHS Employers and deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told The Guardian that the RCP report revealed "the growing mismatch between the demand for and availability of geriatricians".

He added: "(Health Secretary) Sajid Javid's recent commissioning of a workforce strategy is a very welcome step, but as the government's Health and Care Bill continues through parliament, we would urge the government to accept amendments requiring the health secretary to publish regular, independent assessments of the numbers of staff the NHS and social care system need now and in future."