Shropshire’s two main hospitals are facing a shortage of junior doctors with a third of vacancies still unfilled.

Hospital bosses have admitted the shortfall is a “key concern” and could impact on patient care.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust chief executive Tom Taylor said the lack of junior doctors could hit day clinics and the situation is now being closely monitored by the trust managers.

Junior doctor posts – vital to the running of the hospitals – are allocated to recruits through the NHS West Midlands and are due take up their posts in August.

But after the first round of allocations this year only 18 of the 27 vacancies at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal have been filled. Many recruits are instead choosing to take up posts in major cities.

Mr Taylor said the trust was now monitoring the situation and would be watching for an improvement in the second round of allocations next month.

“If we have to cover unfilled jobs with consultants, then if they are on-call at night they will not be doing clinics during the day,” warned Mr Taylor.

“Recruitment has been more competitive this year with people expressing interest in going to centres in the major cities.”

The British Medical Association also warned yesterday that with the legal limit on junior doctors hours set to be reduced from 56 to 48 under the European Working Time Directive from August 1, urgent action needs to be taken to ensure the quality of their training is maintained.

According to the BMA there is concern from doctors, particularly those training to be surgeons, that the cut in hours will make it difficult for them to gain experience.

Dr Andy Thornley, chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: “Patients have a right to expect the consultants responsible for their safety to be confident and trained to the highest standards.

“The NHS has had 11 years to prepare for this. Now there are only 100 days to go, and there are real questions about how we can maintain current standards of training.”

By Dave Morris