Doctors are lured out of retirement to help NHS
RETIRED doctors are being drafted in to plug gaps in NHS Scotland’s overstretched workforce.
The Scottish Government has begun a drive to encourage retired medics to return to work in rural areas which struggle to recruit.
The initiative involves doctors who have recently retired or who work parttime taking on short-term work.
Demand for staff is greatest at rural hospitals, which have some of the worst vacancy rates north of the Border. However, the scheme could be expanded across the country to cover shortages in areas such as psychiatry and general medicine.
Speaking at the launch of the scheme in Edinburgh, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the health service would benefit from retaining the expertise and skills of experienced doctors.
Opposition parties accused the Government of ‘bungling’ the training of recruits, and said the move underlines the staffing crisis in the NHS.
The recruitment initiative is part of the Scottish Clinicians Collaborative, being developed by the Scottish Government and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Miss Freeman said: ‘We are experiencing a period of unprecedented change and medical education must adapt and evolve to meet the expectations of our healthcare services.
‘Our health service benefits if we can retain the expertise and skills of our most experienced doctors and health professionals.
‘We are committed to high quality care in our rural communities.’
She added: ‘These highly experienced clinicians have told us they would welcome the opportunity to maintain their clinical interests in more flexible ways, making them ideally suited to working in rural environments.’
So far, 30 retired surgeons and anaesthetists have expressed an interest in taking part in the scheme.
The move comes as NHS
‘Properly equip health services’
staff are stretched to the limit as they struggle to treat growing numbers of patients.
Figures show more than 7 per cent of consultant posts are vacant but doctors’ leaders warn the true figure is around double that.
Retired doctors are already working in Fort William, Inver- ness-shire, and Stornoway. Consultant surgeon Robert Diament returned to the health service as a travelling locum in rural hospitals after retiring from NHS Ayrshire and Arran last year.
He said: ‘This joint venture is an opportunity for senior consultants from across the country to come together and provide specialist services wherever and whenever they are required.’
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Scotland is lucky to have so many retired doctors willing to return to the front line.
‘Of course, had the SNP Government not bungled the training of new recruits, none of this would be necessary.
‘It is yet another reminder about how badly this Nationalist administration has failed when it comes to planning for the future of the NHS.’
Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said: ‘Any steps to support local and rural services in our NHS are to be welcomed
‘But the need to bring doctors out of retirement underlines the staffing crisis after 12 years of SNP mismanagement.
‘A decade of failed workforce planning has got us to the point where clinicians are being asked to come out of retirement to help ease the pressure.
‘With Audit Scotland warning that the future of our NHS is not sustainable, the Scottish Government must take urgent action to properly equip our health services.’