Not enough doctors to look after patients, medics’ chief claims

“We simply do not have enough doctors in general practice or secondary care. DR PETER BENNIE, BMA

Doctors have accused the Scottish Government of “simply ignoring a major risk to the health service” by failing to deal with staff shortages in the NHS, the chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland is set to claim.

Dr Peter Bennie will use a speech today to highlight the “unrelenting” pressures staff and services are facing – adding there are areas where the NHS lacks enough staff to “look after patients properly”.

Official figures show more than 400 consultant jobs across Scotland are unfilled while Brexit could spark an “exodus of talented staff” from the health service, Dr Bennie will claim.

Junior doctor positions in many specialities “lie empty”, he will add, while more than a quarter of GP practices are “missing” senior staff.

Both the “financial difficulties facing the NHS in Scotland and the pressures on our clinical workforce are unrelenting,” Dr Bennie will say.

He will add: “Good health services cost money and health spending is a political choice.

“The UK spends a smaller proportion of its national wealth than the average levels spent by comparable leading European nations and the BMA is calling for that to change, in all four nations.”

On the “key area” of staffing, he will insist: “We simply do not have enough doctors in general practice or secondary care in Scotland to look after patients properly.

“The Scottish Government repeatedly says that ‘there are more doctors than ever before’ – but this is simply ignoring a major risk to the health service and it is demoralising and frustrating for doctors to hear time and time again.”