The chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) has called on the government to reinstate clinician-led workforce planning in the NHS.
Speaking at a press briefing, James Johnson said that the government believed that by 2010-11 there would be an excess of 3,200 consultants in the health service, along with a shortage of 1,200 GPs and 1,100 junior and staff grade doctors.
The government was also predicting a shortage of 15,000 nurses and 16,000 allied health professionals, he added, while a bulge in the number of junior doctors seeking training jobs was expected soon due to the abolition of the Senior House Officer grade.
Mr Johnson claimed that the government had a duty to make sure that NHS jobs were available to doctors when they were fully trained, as it was financing the medical schools that were producing doctors.
He said: "The whole situation demonstrates an appalling lack of workforce planning.
"In the UK, unlike other countries, the medical schools produce doctors designed for the NHS. So if the government is producing more doctors that it can afford to employ when fully trained, it is a complete waste of public money."
He warned that if junior doctors could not secure suitable NHS jobs in the future they may look overseas for employment.
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