Russells Hall recruitment crisis as just one junior doctor applies from UK
A recruitment crisis has gripped Russells Hall Hospital with just one UK doctor applying for a job.
Health chiefs have revealed there is a “severe shortage of staff” – especially for home-grown talent.
When the Dudley hospital advertised for new junior doctors this summer, health bosses received 122 job applications from abroad, but just one came from within the UK.
However, the worrying trend is taking place at hospitals across the country.
It comes after the Express & Star revealed that 27 per cent of new doctors hired last year by the Dudley NHS Trust Group came from developing countries where recruitment is banned, such as Nigeria and Pakistan.
Ashish Singal, a consultant who runs the Dudley hospital’s emergency department, told a Dudley Council health scrutiny meeting: “We received 123 applications for junior doctors. Just one was from the UK.
“There is a severe shortage across the board of medical staff.
“I have just come from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and there is a massive shortage of consultants. This is a national problem.”
While the hospital is facing a recruitment crisis, millions of pounds have been spent on upgrading its emergency department.
Health chiefs now want to bring in more staff to fill those areas.
Mr Singal continued: “There has been significant investment in the emergency department. Now we need to recruit new staff.
“We want to move away from agency staff who maybe unfamiliar in the environment.”
He added: “We have got two potential candidates for the new junior doctor roles, the closing date was July.
“There is a severe shortage of doctors in the NHS.”
At the hospital, a £2.6 million emergency treatment centre was built in 2018 to ease pressure on the current A&E department.
And in December, the government announced it was investing £20m in upgrading the department, which was built in 1980.
Work is yet to get underway with the project still in the early stages.
The revamp will also ease demand on A&E, which has grown significantly since the department was built three decades ago.
