Royal College of Emergency Medicine: Wales’ Emergency Medicine Workforce Census 2023

Summary

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) ‘Wales' Emergency Medicine Workforce Census 2023’ is an in-depth analysis of the state of the Emergency Medicine workforce, providing an insight into the working patterns of clinicians and allowing a forecast to be made around the future workforce needs of Emergency Departments in Wales.

Content

The census had responses from all 12 major Emergency Departments in Wales and found:

• There is one WTE Consultant per 7784 annual attendances, considerably less than the RCEM recommended figure of 1:4000.
• Of these 101 consultants, 19 are planning to retire in the next six years – a fifth of the consultant workforce.
• There were 90 gaps in the consultant rota, 33 in the middle grade rota and eight in the junior rota. Inability to recruit was the primary reason for rota gaps.
• This is leading to departments in Wales not meeting RCEM best practice recommendations of having an EM consultant presence for at least 16 hours a day in all medium and large systems.
• When asked for future staffing needs, departments across Wales reported needing an increase of 75% consultants, 120% increase in the ACP/ANP/PA workforce, 44% increase in the ENP workforce, 30% increase in the Higher Specialist Trainees/ Non-consultant Senior Decision Maker and a 50% increase in Junior Doctors in the next six years.

The census also found that junior doctors were also being overstretched:

• At the time of collection there were 52 trainees in the ST1-6 programme as well as 95 non- Emergency Medicine trainees working in EDs across Wales
• Junior doctors work one weekend every three weekends, consultants work one weekend every 6.2 weekends.
• Junior doctors in training also do the most night shifts with an average of 52 per year.