Number of NHS consultant jobs left vacant has soared five-fold
Scotland’S health service staffing crisis is ‘spiralling out of control’ with soaring long-term vacancies and sickness rates.
the number of consultant posts lying empty for more than six months rose five-fold in the past five years.
and the number of nursing jobs unfilled for more than three months more than doubled in that time.
the increased pressure on nHS staff has also seen more taking time off sick, and many employees leaving the health service.
damning nHS figures published yesterday show thousands of vacancies in key posts, sparking an outcry from staff and opposition parties.
Simon Barker. chairman of the British Medical association’s Scottish consultants committee, said: ‘demands on the nHS are already at unprecedented levels and the struggles it is facing are only made worse by not having the medical staff in place that the nHS knows is required.
‘It is long past time that addressing the difficulties in recruiting and retaining doctors was made a priority for the health service.’
long-term consultant vacancies soared from 41 full-time posts in March 2013 to 254 in March this year and now account for more than half of all 423 consultant vacancies in the nHS. the remain- der are vacancies which remain unfilled for less than six months.
nursing vacancies rose from 1,609 to 2,813, with the number empty for three months or longer more than doubling from 327 to 853. the sickness rate, supposed to be no more than 4 per cent, was 5.39 per cent last year compared to 4.63 per cent in 2012.
anas Sarwar, Scottish labour health spokesman, said: ‘the SnP’s nHS staffing crisis is spiralling out of control. these failures lie at the door of Bute House.’
Staff turnover rates also soared in the past five years with the number leaving rising from 7,755 to 8,853, whether through retirement or moving on to other jobs.
to tackle these shortages the nHS spent £175.7million on bank and agency nurses last year as well as £100million on locum doctors.
Scottish conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Hardly a week goes by when the SnP’s shocking management of the nHS isn’t exposed.
‘nurses are looking to get out of the profession, and the SnP isn’t doing enough to ensure there are replacements coming through. It’s yet another example of the SnP proving itself unfit to govern.’
Health Secretary Shona Robison defended the SnP’s record, saying: ‘nHS Scotland’s workforce has increased by over 10 per cent under this government to historically high levels.
‘to help meet the demands the nHS faces we are putting record investment into our health service.’
But theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal college of nursing in Scotland, said: ‘Rcn members – the health workers on the front line – tell us that there isn’t enough of them to do their job properly.’