Consultants ‘pressurised into doing overtime’

Some NHS consultants are being forced to work overtime as a result of poor planning, according to the British Medical Association.

Dr Ian Wilson, deputy chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, told the Press Association that overtime is usually carried out by "hard-pressed" and "overstretched" specialists.

He said this is occurring due to a lack of forward planning by NHS trusts, which results in consultants having to be brought in as a "quick fix" solution.

This is a trend that is expected to be exacerbated by the government's planned NHS reforms, according to Dr Wilson, who also added that some consultants are "pressurised" into accepting overtime that they do not want to do.

He argued: "We'd much rather a healthcare system which is transparent, open and fairly regulated, without the pressures of commercial models which make this kind of thing inevitable."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the NHS is expected to increase productivity, including making effective use of consultants' time.