Top doctor: NHS staff forced to magic things from thin air
Surgeon warns elements of the service face axe unless more money is provided
NHS staff are under pressure to “magic things out of thin air” because they are being asked to deliver everything when there is not enough cash, a leading surgeon has warned.
Simon Barker, the new chairman of the Scottish Consultants Committee of the British Medical Association, said unless more money is put into the NHS the public will have to decide which elements of the service they can manage without.
In an interview to mark his arrival in the post, Mr Barker said of the Scottish NHS: “We are on our knees now. We will be flat on our face soon. That is the truth.”
Hospitals were already having to fill consultant posts with lower grade staff because repeatedly advertised vacancies had failed to attract applicants, he said.
This has happened following a fruitless search for a consultant psychiatrist in Aberdeen, he added, while advanced nurses are covering for paediatricians in West Lothian and consultant endoscopists in the Highlands.
“There are sometimes very sensible multidisciplinary team work-arounds, but it is not always going to be that way,” he said. “The idea anyone can do any job is not realistic.”
About half the orthopaedic consultants appointed in Scotland in the past five years have left their jobs, according to the BMA, with only three of the 16 who quit remaining in the country.
Mr Barker, an orthopaedic surgeon in Aberdeen, said when he applied for his post 11 years ago there were eight to 10 applicants “whereas now if we get one or two we think we are doing well”.
Often staff were seeking a better work life balance and salary in countries such as Australia, he said.
“What we have not been good at in the NHS in Scotland is making our staff feel valued and wanted and therefore needing to stay,” he said. “We are more often seen as a burden.”
He stressed that research had found many consultants were dedicated to their work, but it could be “immensely stressful” for them.
Mr Barker said: “The question is what do we as a society want to invest in healthcare – me and you as taxpayers – what do we think it is worth? At the moment we put in considerably less of our GDP than other countries of a similar size and wealth.”
With a growing frail elderly population, difficult questions have to be faced and discussed, he said.
“The question really is for the country ‘what do we want?’ If we want everything free at the point of delivery to carry on, it is not possible to continue to squeeze more and more out of the same cake. Alternatively, perhaps the country does not want to spend that kind of money on the NHS, then there has to be an honest debate about how does it want to spend the money. Which things matter most?
“What we cannot do is expand and expand community care, which we need to do, while at the same time maintaining hospital services which are more and more elaborate and cost a lot of money.”
He said he did not see the NHS as a business, but also said “it is not as inefficient as people think”.
Mr Barker added: “It is unfair to say we will fund everything and not put the money in to do it. That puts massive pressure on the managers, on clinicians and nursing colleagues and allied health professional colleagues to basically magic things out of thin air.”
Scotland’s Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with NHS staff to deliver the best possible care for the people of Scotland.
“This year, territorial NHS boards are receiving an average increase in funding of 5.5 per cent – an increase of over £475 million in this year alone. We are also committed to the NHS budget increasing in every year, and that by the end of this parliament we’ll ensure NHS funding stands at least £500m above inflationonly increases.” STREET artist Flexy Lexy packs her case and waves goodbye as Edinburgh’s festivals draw to a close.
The acrobat is among thousands of performers leaving the capital after displaying their talents over the past three weeks.
A spectacular display featuring music and fireworks, set against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, will take place tonight to officially signal the end of the world’s biggest arts festival.