JUNIOR doctors have mixed feelings about local hospitals, according to a new workplace survey.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has today (July 31) published a "warts and all" guide to hospitals throughout the North West.

The guide is for junior doctors looking for their first post after leaving medical school, and is based on surveys of staff working at each centre.

Bury's two hospitals scored well for surgical house jobs, which had the lowest stress score in the whole guide of two-out-of-five.

But the non-surgical medical house jobs were rated five-out-of-five - the highest stress level, and doctors were recommended not to go for those jobs at Bury or Fairfield.

Other than the stress factor, doctors were fairly pleased with local facilities.

Rooms for on-call staff were rated "good to excellent", and security was excellent.

Food was "average", but not readily available out-of-hours, but the medical library was rated excellent with good out-of-hours access. Some doctors noted no help from senior house officers.

Mr David Clements, hospital manager for the Bury Trust, said the comments in the report were based on views of junior doctors in the past.

He said: "We are aware of the criticisms, and we are confident that we have addressed them."

Stress levels at North Manchester General was reported at three-out-of five for surgery, and three-and-a-half-out-of-five for medicine.

One respondent to the survey said it was "a very nice hospital to work in."

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