The majority of doctors surveyed by the British Medical Association (BMA) think ambitions to get the NHS back to near-normal service by autumn are unlikely to be realised.
NHS England recently set targets to resume normal levels of activity over the next few months, but when asked by the BMA whether they thought these would be met, 70% of (3,326) surveyed doctors said this was either highly (40%, 1,339) or fairly (30%, 997) unlikely.
Furthermore, 34% (3,486 respondents) believe it would take more than a year to clear waiting lists for elective procedures.
Other key findings from the BMA’s latest tracker survey of doctors in England and Wales include:
- 60% of doctors said they were not very, or not at all confident in their local health economy managing demand as normal NHS services resume.
- 51% said they were not very, or not at all confident in being able to manage a second wave of COVID-19.
- 26% said that in the last two weeks non-COVID-19 demand had increased to pre-pandemic levels, with 17% saying demand is even higher than pre-pandemic levels (3,705 respondents).
The survey results come after new NHS figures showed record waits in many areas, including the wait between being referred by a GP to first treatment, and the number of people waiting longer than a year for treatment rising to the highest in over a decade.
BMA analysis showed the regions worst impacted include Dorset and areas in the North East and Essex, facing waits for treatment at 20 weeks or longer.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “These survey findings underline the sheer scale of the challenge for the NHS in the coming months, and the anxiety and concern felt by already exhausted frontline doctors as they look ahead to what will likely be one of the most challenging times of their careers.”
