VACANCIES for consultants in Scotland’s hospitals have rise by 10 per cent in the last year, with more than 250 posts lying empty for at least six months.
The Scottish Government faced criticism over the figures but Health Secretary Shona Robison stressed overall staffing in the country’s NHS was at a record high.
Official data from the NHS revealed that at the end of September the whole time equivalent (WTE) of 430.5 consultant posts were unfilled – a drop from 476.4 in June but a rise of 10.4 per cent over the last 12 months. These included 254.3 WTE consultant jobs that had been empty for a minimum of six months – an increase of 38.6 per cent from September 2016. Almost one in six (15.9 per cent) clinical radiology consultant posts were unfilled.
The overall workforce rose to 139,492.1, the fifth consecutive annual increase, but jobs growth fell from 1.8 per cent to 0.6 per cent over the period.
Overall, 7.7 per cent of all consultants’ jobs were vacant, with the figures also showing a slight rise in the number of unfilled nursing and midwifery posts, where the vacancy rate rose from 4.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent, amounting to 2789.2 WTE jobs without someone in post. Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar branded the figures “staggering”, but Robison said: “NHS staffing in Scotland is at a new record high level and has increased by over 12,400 under this government.
“This has been backed by our record high investment in the NHS, supporting more doctors, nurses and midwives, and care workers.
“Just this week, Ucas figures showed the highest-ever number of acceptances to study nursing at Scottish universities, with an eight per cent increase compared to a three per cent decrease in England. We have retained bursaries for our nursing and midwifery students as well as making sure their tuition is free, while the UK Government has scrapped bursaries and brought in tuition fees.”
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