A NEW survey of consultant physicians in Wales has revealed the toll of the pandemic on NHS staff.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) survey underlines fears the the NHS will take years to recover, with backlogs and waiting times exacerbated by workforce shortages and continuing delays for diagnostic testing.

The survey revealed 38 per cent of doctors have problems sleeping while 23 per cent do not feel healthy and 19 per cent do not feel satisfied with their life.

In an April 2021 RCP membership survey, 59 per cent of respondents thought it would take at least 18 months for the NHS to recover from the pandemic, while 30 per cent thought it would take over two years.

Dr Olwen Williams, RCP vice president for Wales said: "To put it bluntly, we need more doctors.

"Waiting lists are getting longer. NHS staff are exhausted and need a break, but there aren’t enough of us to go round.

"By 2030, older people in Wales will make up a third of the total population and many of them will need support from the NHS and social care.

"Yet it takes more than 10 years to train a doctor which is why it’s so important that the next Welsh Government increases medical school places as soon as possible.

"Our recent report, Recover, rebuild, renew, sets out our action plan for the next government.’

Dr Alice Hoole, speciality trainee doctor in acute medicine said: "The pandemic changed everything overnight for all of us.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, I would like to see more of a focus on the wellbeing of healthcare professionals. Staffing pressures as well as the vast and ever-increasing workload at the front door need to be addressed to help us provide the best care for our patients in the future.’

Dr Jack Parry-Jones, Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine lead for Wales said: "How did critical care cope with the impact of successive pandemic waves? In short, we couldn’t have coped without help.

"The Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine would like to draw attention to, and publicly thank, our physician and anaesthesia colleagues for the vital support we have received.

‘Even with increased critical care capacity, we would never have managed without the care physicians provided.

"The support from acute medicine, general medicine, and more directly respiratory and infectious disease teams in providing care for large numbers of critically ill patients in high respiratory care areas has been extraordinary.

"These areas are providing high-dependency care usually done in critical care units and have provided a crucial buffer in stopping critical care from being completely overwhelmed.’

Dr Parry-Jones insisted Wales had been more vulnerable to the affects of the pandemic due to decades of social deprivation.

He said: "It came as no surprise that chronic social deprivation, poverty, obesity, old age and close living conditions are all excess risk factors for serious morbidity and death.

"The medical community in Wales has a long, proud history of highlighting these inequalities, alongside efforts to mitigate them."