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MPs urge failing A&E pay incentives

Pay incentives should be used to hire specialist emergency doctors for struggling A&E wards, MPs have suggested. The Public Accounts Committee warned A&E services had been "hampered" by a lack of emergency consultants.

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Govt: 'No easy fix' to A&E recruitment shortage

The Government has hit out at claims it has no clear plan for aiding struggling A&E services and claimed there "was no easy fix" to the problem.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said successive Governments had failed to come up with a recruitment plan to train and hire specialist emergency care doctors.

Working with the College of Emergency Medicine we have a clear strategy to tackle the shortage, and have 414 more A&E consultants than there were in 2009, as well as filling all training places for doctors choosing to specialise in A&E.

It takes six years to train an A&E consultant, and there is no easy fix - but our long-term plans are robust, increasing the number of training places by 75 next year, and planning for all trainee doctors to spend time in A&E.

– Dr Dan Poulter

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