A JUNIOR doctor has spoken about chronic NHS staff shortages as a new report raises concern around its effect on patient safety.

The Mind the Rota Gap report, conducted by junior doctors, revealed the extent of understaffing among junior doctors in the NHS.

Junior doctor Julia Barr, who works at the Great Western Hospital and plans a career in anaesthetics, said rota shortages were now a routine part of medical life.

“I have worked in hospitals where rotas are only 50 per cent staffed which as you can imagine is incredibly stressful,” she said.

“Swindon is really good at incentivising people and I don’t see the extreme shortages I’ve encountered before but understaffed rotas are a weekly thing, be it one doctor under or more. You just get on with it, you have to but you are exhausted and stressed.

“I’ve noticed a decrease in F1 doctors, which are those straight out of university, usually that is oversubscribed and now I don’t know if they’re seeing what’s happening in the industry and being totally put off.

“I’ve been on shifts where the person below my job wasn’t there so I ended up doing the work of two people. Trying to do the work of two or three people means that you will be delayed and can’t get to the next patient as quickly.

“It’s absolutely a key part of why we took strike action. It’s all about patient safety and we don’t want that compromised.”

Dr Peter Swinyard, from Toothill’s Phoenix Surgery, said he believed further strike action was imminent.

“This could be another winter of discontent, when I worked in hospitals more than 30 years ago there were always enough doctors, I don’t see that now,” he said.

“The pressures are getting worse, but the amount of work medical staff do won’t change . There aren’t enough doctors around to do the work that’s needed. I am gravely concerned.”

Following a survey of 395 doctors across the country, working across accident and emergency, acute medicine, surgical specialities, medical specialities, paediatrics and psychiatry, it was revealed more than 25 per cent of doctors who identified a rota gap were down by four or more junior doctors.

It also showed 21 per cent of rota gaps were not covered. And 77 per cent of junior doctors reported rota gaps had no plan to place to cover them, such as a short term locum appointment.

A spokesman for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “It is vital that we always have enough skilled staff on duty to provide patients with safe and high quality care at all times.

“Recruiting specialist medical staff, including doctors in emergency medicine, along with qualified nurses, remains a challenge for the whole NHS.

"Like many trusts, until we have enough permanent staff, we use a range of temporary staffing measures, including agency staff, so that we have the staff with the skills and experience we need to ensure safe and high quality care.

“The trust also has its own internal agency, the Bank, where staff can work additional shifts to cover staff sickness and unplanned absences.

"This means we are able to save money and make use of our fantastic permanent staff who are already familiar with the trust and the way it operates.”