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Retired doctors can re-join the NHS workforce via a new digital platform to perform outpatient appointments, either virtually or in person, as part of a new government plan to reduce waiting lists.
The idea is that NHS hospitals will choose the consultant whose skillset and availability best matches the appointments they need covered. These consultants carrying out remote appointments could be based anywhere in England, which can help those hospitals in areas with higher demand.
More than four-fifths of people on the waiting list require an outpatient appointment such as a follow-up for cardiology or rheumatology – rather than a surgical procedure. The appointments will be scheduled and arranged with patients in the normal way.
The NHS Confederation said it welcomed reinforcements in the form of retired medics re-joining the service to lend their support, especially as 432,000 outpatient appointments had to be cancelled or rescheduled because of industrial action over the last six months.
Still need a comprehensive workforce plan
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “This is on top of flexibilities that the NHS offers already around retirement and working arrangements so that vital talent can be retained. While this new initiative is needed and will help, 8% of medical posts in secondary care are currently vacant, and so wider efforts beyond this welcome initiative will be needed to address the staffing vacancies we have in the NHS. These wider efforts need to be set out clearly in a comprehensive workforce plan, which we are told is imminent.”
Those requiring a face-to-face appointment or follow-up will be seen in the usual way. All appropriate checks will also be carried out before consultants become fully registered on the platform to ensure patient safety. It will be open to recently-retired consultants with NHS experience, who have an active registration on the specialist register and the General Medical Council registry, who also hold Certificate of Completion of Training.
Workforce data shows about 1,000 consultants leave the NHS for retirement each year.
Speaking at NHS Confed Expo, Amanda Pritchard, NHS Chief Executive, said: “Ahead of the NHS 75th birthday in July, this new platform is an innovative example of how we are constantly adapting the way we work to benefit patients by helping to reduce waiting times as well as supporting staff.
“Using this digital tool will help us to match patients with retired doctors who we know are keen to stay working in a flexible way so they can keep caring for patients, as well as allowing us to expand capacity to see even more patients – and faster.
“NHS staff have already made excellent progress against our Elective Recovery Plan – and this platform will not only help us continue to reduce the longest waits but it will also help us slash agency spend, using the existing capacity of experienced doctors who still have so much to offer the NHS”.
