Some NHS trusts and primary care trusts have failed to make use of a new body set up to help deal with poorly performing doctors, says the chief medical officer in his annual report.
Figure 1.
As a result many doctors are on extended official suspensions or unofficial “gardening leave” (a phrase used for suspension, which is not intended to have a negative connotation), with the NHS picking up the £20m ($33m; €29m) annual tab.
The National Clinical Assessment Authority was set up in April 2001 after the Bristol inquiry into children's heart surgery highlighted the urgent need for a less threatening and more sympathetic way to deal with failing doctors. Its aim has been to deal more swiftly with poorly performing doctors and to rehabilitate rather than discipline where possible.
In its first 21 months the authority took 446 referrals. Professor Donaldson said that the service was proving a success. Out of 36 cases where trusts were considering suspension, the authority was able to advise on alternative approaches in 30 of them.
However, the number of doctors on suspension remains too high, he says. Each year about 30 doctors are suspended from the NHS. A further 30 or so cases are carried over from one quarter to the next, and at least 35 doctors are on informal suspension or gardening leave.
Professor Donaldson says he would like to see suspension last no longer than one month at a time and to see an end to gardening leave.
“More NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts need to use the National Clinical Assessment Authority route to resolving problems of poor clinical performance,” his report says.