Doctors shunning £20k golden hello
THE position is in one of the country’s most beautiful areas – and if scenery’s not enough to entice you, it comes with a £20,000 bonus just for signing up.
But not even that has managed to tempt a single doctor to work in Grampian region.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government had hoped to encourage more junior doctors to take up hard-to-fill vacancies with ‘golden hello’ incentives offered, such as a bonus of £20,000.
A total of 100 new GP training places were advertised in August with placements based in Grampian, Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway, as well as rural communities in the Highlands and Islands.
But yesterday, it was revealed that not a single doctor had taken advantage of the scheme in some regions. Last month, the Scottish Daily Mail revealed that of the 100 vacancies, only 37 had been filled.
Pressure is mounting on local health boards, with almost one-fifth of family doctors due to retire in the coming years and a severe shortage expected by 2020.
This is likely to create major difficulties for patients seeking appointments in the affected regions.
Scottish Labour Highlands and Islands MSP David Stewart said: ‘Expert groups such as the BMA have been warning for years that primary care needs more investment and attention but the SNP has cut more than £1billion from general practice in the last decade.
‘I previously announced my disappointment at the small number of these special bursary places in the region and to now discover that more than half the posts [across the north of Scotland] haven’t been filled is extremely worrying for the future of the health service.
‘Nine out of ten nurses are saying their workload is getting worse, one out of four GP surgeries say they are understaffed and only a third of NHS staff believe there are enough of them to do their jobs properly.’
The Scottish Government scheme was open to applicants with a closing date of the end of August this year. Two of the posts were filled in the Highlands, but the three positions advertised for the Grampian region remain vacant.
Health Secretary Shona Robinson said: ‘The numbers of GPs working in NHS Grampian has increased by almost 10 per cent during the lifetime of this government, and we are committed to increasing GP numbers as we transform our local health services to better meet the needs of communities, including assisting more GPs to return to practice.
‘A joint agreement between the Scottish Government and the BMA, on the future of GP services, will also improve and redesign the way health services are provided in communities across Scotland. The three vacant trainee posts in Grampian are being advertised, with a start date of August 2017.’