NHS vacancies ‘seriously impacting’ patient care, doctors’ leaders warn

Consultant vacancies are up 11.7 per cent

Ministers have been accused of failing to deal with the issue. Picture: PA Wire

Vacant consultant posts are “seriously impacting” patient care in the NHS, doctors’ leaders warned as it emerged almost 7,000 roles for doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals are lying empty across Scotland.

While the NHS workforce rose to 158,375.2 whole-time equivalent (WTE) by the end of September – 18 per cent higher than it was 10 years ago – figures also show there were 5,447.4 WTE nursing and midwifery posts vacant.

There were 439.1 WTE vacancies for consultants – a level the British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland described as “stubbornly high” – and 934 WTE vacancies for allied health professionals, such as radiographers, physiotherapists and others.

Across these three groups, the NHS had 6,820.5 WTE vacancies at the end of September, data from NHS Education for Scotland shows.

Commenting on the figures Colin Poolman, Scotland director for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said: “Scotland does not have the nursing staff required to deliver care to all who need it.

“The impact of working short-staffed day after day, both on patient care and on the wellbeing of nursing staff, cannot be underestimated.”

Meanwhile Dr Alan Robertson, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish Consultant Committee, said the vacancies have an impact on doctors but are also “seriously impacting the quality and timeliness of care for patients”.

Warning the NHS is “heading into what is likely to be a brutal winter period”, Dr Robertson called on the Scottish Government to “act urgently to properly address the senior doctor recruitment and retention crisis this country faces”.

He said consultant vacancies being up 11.7 per cent on the same time in 2022 shows the Government’s “failure” to deal with the issue.

Dr Robertson added: “Importantly, the number of posts vacant six months or more has remained virtually unchanged for two years and stands at 210 vacancies.”

He said the figures fail to show the “true extent of gaps in the workforce”, adding that when posts no longer being advertised are included, the “actual number of gaps in the workforce is around double what the official figures say”.

He said: “This is impacting on doctors, who are even more demoralised by claims from the Government around record or historically high workforce numbers which simply don’t reflect the reality on the ground.”

Dr Robertson said ministers must produce “a serious, long-term workforce plan which finally sets out how we will meet the demands placed on us as doctors and our NHS well into the future”.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson stressed the number of people working for the NHS is higher than ever.

He said: “Our staff are the very heart of our NHS and today’s figures show the number of people working in Scotland’s NHS is at a record high.

“NHS Scotland continues to have higher staffing per head than England. We set out our long-term workforce vision in the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy, published last year, and remain committed to achieving this.

“We want to make careers in Scotland’s NHS attractive and well rewarded. By engaging in good faith with unions to offer pay rises, Scotland was the only part of the UK to avoid NHS strikes and we continue to invest in training.

“Last month we confirmed 153 training posts for junior doctors to be created across a wide range of medical specialties; the largest annual expansion on record, supported by £42 million over the next four years.

“I would like to thank all of our staff and trainees for their hard work and dedication in helping maintain Scotland’s NHS.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said “successive SNP health secretaries have failed to ensure the alarming rate of vacancies have been filled”, adding this leaves hospitals without the capacity to carry out all scheduled operations.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Nursing and midwifery vacancies are still far too high.

“As we fast approach another winter crisis for our NHS, these figures make for deeply worrying reading.”