Doctors prefer to work in Wales

27 Jun 11
More than eight out of ten doctors prefer working in Wales to England, according to a survey published by the British Medical Association today.

By Richard Johnstone | 27 June 2011

More than eight out of ten doctors prefer working in Wales to England, according to a survey published by the British Medical Association today.

The poll, commissioned by the Welsh arm of the BMA, found that 86% of 5,000 doctors working in Wales were glad to work there in light of the proposed reforms to the NHS in England.

The survey also backed moves by successive Welsh governments to remove competition by abolishing the internal market and competition from the NHS. This decision was backed by 82% of respondents.

The findings come ahead of the coalition government’s planned reforms to the NHS. These will only apply in England, and will see GPs in England taking charge of budgets in clinical commissioning groups, and will also increase competition.

BMA Wales said the results of its survey ‘speak loud and clear’.

Dr Andrew Dearden, chair of BMA Wales, said: ‘Doctors in Wales remain loyal to the principles set out for the NHS by Aneurin Bevan.

‘Consecutive Welsh Governments have diminished the role of the private sector from the NHS, and the purchaser/provider split no longer operates. This was the right decision for doctors, and the right decision for patients.

The BMA in England said it did not have figures to compare to the survey done in Wales.

Commenting on the findings, Welsh Health Minister Lesley Griffiths said: ‘I’m delighted that our approach to providing healthcare is backed by the BMA and frontline doctors. Our vision for the NHS in Wales is very different to that being pursued by the government in England.

‘In particular, unlike the NHS in England, we favour an integrated system which focuses on collaboration and cooperation to drive up standards, rather than a marketplace driven by competition.’
The changes announced by the Westminster government to the Health and Social Care Bill will be debated at BMA’s annual conference in Cardiff tomorrow.

Speaking to the conference today, BMA chair Dr Hamish Meldrum, said that, following the listening exercise, there were positive changes to the government’s health reforms. However, he said ‘there is still a lot to play for’, adding that the BMA would continue to battle against competition.

‘Doctors are not afraid of competition – in fact, they thrive on it. They want to know that they are working as well, if not better than their colleagues and they need fair, effective and evidence-based data on health outcomes to provide them with that information. But that is quite different from the unfettered, free market of the industrial world. The NHS must never be like that,’ he said.

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