IN MY VIEW
THERE are now more than 400 vacant consultant posts across NHS Scotland.
Consultant vacancies are continuing to rise and almost half of these have been vacant for more than six months.
This is mirrored in general practice where 26% of practices that responded to a recent survey had at least one GP vacancy.
The BMA has been warning the Scottish Government for some time that the NHS in Scotland is facing serious difficulties in recruitment and retention and that we are long past the point at which action must be taken.
Every vacant post puts more pressure on an already overburdened medical workforce and leaves health boards attempting to plug gaps by trying to secure temporary locum cover.
Unless we tackle the underlying causes of these gaps in our workforce then our reliance on locums will only increase.
There always has been and always will be a need for locum staff to cover short-term absences, sick leave and maternity leave, amongst other things.
The use of locums is, however, a temporary solution and does not provide long-term stability in the case of a long-term vacancy.
The only way to reduce the use of locums in the health service is by filling vacant posts on a permanent basis.
Serious questions need to be asked as to why Scotland is unable to attract and retain an NHS workforce. In some specialities, despite repeated advertising, posts are not proving attractive and are remaining unfilled.
With vacancies increasing and demand rising faster than resources, an ongoing significant shortfall in doctors will inevitably have a negative impact on our ability to continue to deliver a high quality and sustainable health service.
It is imperative that the Scottish Government builds on initial work they have done with BMA Scotland’s GPs and work to find solutions to these challenges across both primary and secondary care. We need positive action to demonstrate to all medical staff that they are valued, making posts attractive so that we can continue to provide the kind of health service that our patients deserve.