Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 2024 Quick read: Workforce information and planning: Rota gaps survey findings 2024
Executive Summary
Rota gaps were relatively consistent across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, ranging from 20% to 23.5%. Gaps were higher on Tier 2 except for Northern Ireland.
1. Services across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are facing rota gaps of over 20% with Wales services at 11.3%.
21.7%
2. There is no regional pattern in terms of areas most affected with the Midlands, the South East, North East and Yorkshire, Scotland and Northern Ireland experiencing the highest gaps, and the least affected being London, East of England and Wales.
23.5%
11.3%
3. Tier 2 rotas are generally more impacted by rota
20%
gaps than Tier 1, with the exception of Northern Ireland and - while there was no clear pattern of regional bias - Tier 2 rota gaps were predominant across most of England, Wales, and Scotland.
4. Combined rotas (General Paediatrics/Neonatal and General Paediatrics/Specialty) were most heavily impacted by gaps especially at the Tier 1 level, while Neonatal and General Paediatrics saw a higher proportion of gaps on Tier 2 rotas.
Tier 2 rotas were generally more impacted by rota gaps than Tier 1.
Tier 2 Tier 1
5. Rota gap duration was largely over three months, lasting 3-6 months or six months to a year.
23.4%
6. Both ‘LTFT working’ and ‘lack of deanery trainee
When looking at rota types, Combined General/ Neonatal had the highest gaps with 23.4%.
allocation’ (either due to gaps in rotation or insufficient places for a fully compliant rota) were main causal factors behind rota gaps, with health reasons accounting for a relatively small proportion. Predictably, lack of deanery allocation was much more significant at the Tier 1 level with LTFT working equally impactful for both tiers.
7. Where improvement had been seen, the solution
Combined rotas (General Paediatrics/ Neonatal and General Paediatrics/ Specialty) were most heavily impacted by gaps, potentially suggesting District General Hospitals were more impacted.
was generally one of short-term staffing largely in the form of clinical fellows and trust-grade LEDs in addition to the use of locums and agency staff. Deanery allocation also contributed to improvement, especially where LTFT had increased e.g increased slot sharing in addition to better communication between those involved re expected resources.
1