Doctors dejected by Covid response

By Olive Carterton

Surgeons have revealed what changes they are making in the way they work in response to the pandemic.

 Two-thirds said they would be reducing face-to-face contact with patients;

 Nearly one in five stated they were altering their practice, such as by avoiding aerosol-generating procedures;

 Seven per cent would leave; 

 One per cent would switch specialty. 

Surgeons’ views were collected in a survey by the Confederation of British Surgery (CBS), the UK’s only trade union representing surgeons across all specialties, and anaesthetists. It warned of a possible mass exodus of nearly 1,200 surgeons from the NHS.