DOCTORS have claimed the NHS is being “stretched to its very limit”, as new figures showed hospitals have vacancies for more than 450 consultants.
Vacancies have increased by 39% over the last five years – and by 7.1% in the last year – with the NHS trying to fill the whole time equivalent (WTE) of 452.3 consultant positions.
The figures, from the end of March 2019, also showed 245 WTE consultant posts have been vacant for six months or more. This was down by 3.5% from March 2018, but the number of long-term vacancies has increased from 79.2 in March 2014 – a rise of 209%. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the “substantial long-term gaps in Scotland’s consultant workforce are a serious concern – not just for the NHS, but for everyone who relies on it for the care they need”.
The latest workforce statistics also showed more nursing and midwifery positions not being filled.
Overall, the WTE staff number in the NHS grew by 0.6% in the year to the end of March 2019, with the equivalent of 140,881.2 full-time workers employed by Scotland’s health service. Three health boards – NHS Tayside, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – saw their staff totals fall. In NHS Tayside, where the drop was greatest, there were 223.1 WTE fewer staff over a year.
Across Scotland, spending on agency nurses and midwives rose by 10.9% to £26.2 million.
Simon Barker, chair of BMA Scotland’s consultant committee, said: “All this tells the story of a workforce stretched to its very limit. We simply don’t have enough doctors.”
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman stressed there was a “new record high number of NHS staff, with seven consecutive years of growth”.
She added: “There has been a 7.4% increase in qualified nurses and midwives under this government, and over this parliament we’re creating 2600 extra nurse and midwifery training places. We’ve also seen the number of consultant staff in post grow by 50%.”
“When we publish the integrated health and social care workforce plan, the first in the UK, it will be informed by available data to help ensure that we have the right staff in the right place long into the future. The plan will also take into account, as far as it can, the unknown impact that Brexit will have on retaining and recruiting our workforce.”
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