#ChooseGeriatrics: Setting the scene for our campaign

Our #ChooseGeriatrics campaign is new. But BGS shining a light on the challenges facing the older people’s healthcare workforce is not. Here you can find links to some of our recent workforce reports which help to build the case for the #ChooseGeriatrics campaign.

The case for more geriatricians: Strengthening the workforce to care for an ageing population

The case for more geriatricians is intended to start the conversation about the workforce needed to provide high-quality care for the ageing population with increasingly complex needs. It explains why training, recruiting and retaining geriatricians should be a priority, estimates how many geriatricians are needed to provide safe and effective care for older people, and outlines some of the structural barriers that currently prevent recruitment.

 

The state of the consultant geriatrician workforce: An analysis of the RCP census

The state of the consultant geriatrician workforce analyses data from the RCP census of consultant physicians. This report highlights the working experiences of consultant geriatricians across the UK, showing both the challenges of short-staffing and the fulfilment that many geriatricians get from their work.

The state of the older people’s healthcare workforce: A report from the BGS membership survey

The state of the older people’s healthcare workforce summarises the findings of a survey of the BGS membership undertaken in the second half of 2023. It provides a snapshot into how our members across the multidisciplinary team are feeling about their work and the services they work in.

Flexible working in Geriatric Medicine: A workforce statement from the British Geriatrics Society

Flexible working in geriatric medicine sets out the benefits of less than full time (LTFT) working in geriatric medicine for both individuals and organisations, and provides six guiding principles as well as tips for successful flexible working.

What is clear is that there are not enough people working in older people’s healthcare to provide the high quality care needed by older people with increasingly complex needs.

The #ChooseGeriatrics campaign aims to showcase older people’s healthcare as an exciting and innovative specialty and to attract, recruit and retain healthcare professionals into this field, ensuring that older people now and in the future can access the care they need, when and where they need it.