As long as things carry on as they are, I see the future of EBME being compromised by being unable to attract young blood. At almost every NHS biomed shed I know, the guys work under tension, under constant pressure from the conflicting requirements of carrying out quality work without enough time in which to do it! Put simply, guys are over-worked, and it is hardly any wonder that many good blokes have moved elsewhere. Including, of course, some of the younger ones who are still excited by the prospect of becoming a company service engineer (complete with a car, and all the rest).
This time pressure also manifests itself when a new hire is taken on, especially if it is a youngster who needs a fair amount of mentoring.
Why is it that biomeds are always under such pressure? Contrast this with the "typical" Estates department, where the guys are always (it seems to me) pretty relaxed in the way they go about things. And why not?
I cannot think of a single biomed department that could be described as "over-manned". But this is exactly what is required ... a bit of "slack", to be able to draw breath, catch up with the million little jobs that need to be done, allow everyone to take their full entitlement of days off, some time to plan, to improve the department, to attend training courses, and all the rest.