Problem
Insufficient doctors
Other Names:
Unavailability of community doctorsUnavailability of local physicians
Lack of specialist doctors
Unaffordable fulltime physician
Local medical disinterest
Unanswered need for physician
Incidence:
Although the incidence of cancer continues to rise, partly as a result of the ageing population, the number of consultant oncologists in the UK has remained static since 1980 -- in 1993 it was 1 specialist for every 224,000 of the population. Only Portugal comes lower in the European league, with one oncologist for 250,000. Norway has one for 69,000 and France one for 110,000. Cancer consultants in the UK each looks after around 2,000 patients, half of whom require active care, see two to three times as many patients as their colleagues overseas and are not able to devote enough time to individual patients or keep themselves informed of latest developments. Each oncologist sees an average of 560 new patients every year, in addition to existing patients; by 2000 it is expected that new referrals will average 670 a year. The recommended maximum workload is 350 new patients a year.
Broader Problems:
Insufficient health personnel Related Problems:
Unavailability of local dentists Aggravates:
Fragility of maintaining basic health Reduced By:
Surplus medical doctorsStrategies:
Providing international health care assistance Subject(s):
Health Care → PhysiciansInformation → Expertise
Medicine → Medicine
Societal Problems → Scarcity
Society → Communities
Society → Local
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
E: Emanations of other problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST