News

07.06.17

Consultant vacancies in Scotland shoot up by 17% in one year

Vacancies in consultancy positions have shot up over the past year in Scotland, prompting doctors to call on the government to improve efforts to retain and recruit staff into the profession.

Figures released by the Information Services Division Scotland, an arm of NHS National Service Scotland, revealed that consultant vacancies saw a 17.6% rise from March last year to March 2017.

This amounts to over 400 positions remaining unfilled in March, an increase from 355 positions the year before. It also follows figures earlier this month that found that one in four Scottish GPs currently had vacant positions.

The latest figures were described as “extremely disappointing” by Simon Barker, chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA’s) Scottish Consultants Committee.

“The Scottish government is still not facing up to the problems of medical recruitment and retention in the NHS,” he said. “Need is considerably outstripping limited increases in capacity. It is not enough to create extra posts, they must be filled too.

“There are now over 400 unfilled consultant posts, leading to huge service stresses the length and breadth of Scotland.”

Barker added that almost half of these empty positions (over 200 of them) had been vacant for more than six months, making today’s figures even more concerning.

“This particular figure highlights the unsustainable difficulties that some specialities are experiencing in being unable to recruit and retain consultants,” he stated. “Despite repeated advertising these posts are not proving attractive to consultants. This is causing unrelenting pressure on those consultants currently working in the health service.”

The BMA committee chair also slammed the Scottish government’s “consistent failure” to value the consultants who are bearing the brunt of these vacancies under increasing patient demand.

“Failure to attract new consultants will inevitably have a significant and negative impact on our ability to continue to deliver a high-quality and sustainable health service,” he stated. 

“It is imperative that the Scottish government acts now, working with BMA Scotland, to demonstrate to existing consultants that they are valued; and to make new posts attractive so that we can continue to provide the kind of health service that our patients deserve.”

But the Scottish government have defended the figures, pointing out that Scotland’s NHS have more staff than ever before, up by over 12,300 under this government.

NHS staff numbers have risen to record highs - with more consultants, nurses and midwives now delivering care for the people of Scotland,” said health secretary Shona Robinson.

“There are now over 12,300 more staff working in our NHS, with nearly 1,000 of these recruited in the last year,” she said. “These extra staff will ensure people all across Scotland get the high-quality NHS services that they rightly expect.”

Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an NHE columnist? If so, click here.

Comments

There are no comments. Why not be the first?

Add your comment

national health executive tv

more videos >

latest news

View all News

comment

NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

23/09/2019NHS England dementia director prescribes rugby for mental health and dementia patients

Reason to celebrate as NHS says watching rugby can be good for your mental ... more >
Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

21/06/2019Peter Kyle MP: It’s time to say thank you this Public Service Day

Taking time to say thank you is one of the hidden pillars of a society. Bei... more >

editor's comment

26/06/2020Adapting and Innovating

Matt Roberts, National Health Executive Editorial Lead. NHE May/June 2020 Edition We’ve been through so much as a health sector and a society in recent months with coronavirus and nothing can take away from the loss and difficulties that we’ve faced but it vital we also don’t disregard the amazing efforts we’ve witnessed. Staff have gone above and beyond, whole hospitals and trusts have flexed virtually at will to meet demand and pressures and we’ve... read more >

last word

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad: ‘We all have a role to play in getting innovations quicker’

Haseeb Ahmad, president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), sits down with National Health Executive as part of our Last Word Q&A series. Would you talk us throu more > more last word articles >

interviews

Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

24/10/2019Matt Hancock says GP recruitment is on the rise to support ‘bedrock of the NHS’

Today, speaking at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annual... more >

the scalpel's daily blog

Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

28/08/2020Covid-19 can signal a new deal with the public on health

Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers & Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Confederation The common enemy of coronavirus united the public side by side wi... more >
read more blog posts from 'the scalpel' >

healthcare events

events calendar

back

September 2020

forward
mon tue wed thu fri sat sun
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11

featured articles

View all News