NHS crisis Scotland: Doctors say working in NHS like being in a 'war zone' as survey reveals 'dangerously low' staffing levels

The chair of BMA Scotland is now urging Scottish ministers to take urgent action to save the NHS

Scottish doctors say the NHS is like “working in a war zone” as a new survey has revealed eight in ten doctors believe staffing levels are unsafe.

The snap poll, commissioned by the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland, found two-thirds believe there are not enough doctors to meet patient demand this winter.

The BMA is now telling Scottish ministers to “act urgently”, saying NHS staffing is “dangerously low” as doctors warn they are “stretching themselves to breaking point”.

Doctors are warning staffing levels in Scotland's hospitals are reaching dangerous levels. Image: Jeff Moore/Press Association.

Only 1 per cent of the 610 doctors who responded to the survey said they felt their department was well-staffed beyond safe levels.

A further 49 per cent said staffing levels amongst doctors and wider support teams are sometimes unsafe, and 31 per cent said this was the case on a regular basis.

Seventy-two per cent said staffing was worse now than in the previous two years, and 83 per cent indicated they did not feel there was a proper plan in place to improve recruitment and retention.

One doctor anonymously told the survey: “Every week is starting to feel like working in a war zone. This is only going to get worse as the winter progresses.”

Dr Iain Kennedy, chair of BMA Scotland, said he was “deeply concerned” by the results of the survey.

He said the Government needed to urgently act to resolve the issue, adding: “Both medical and wider staffing in Scotland’s NHS are at dangerously low levels.

“Now is not the time for platitudes or to tell us that we are at a record high in terms of doctors, because it simply will not wash with the profession who are stretching themselves to breaking point, risking harm to themselves, in a bid to provide the level of care the people of Scotland need and deserve.”

Dr Kennedy added: “If the Scottish Government will not heed BMA Scotland’s warnings, I implore ministers and their staff to listen to Scotland’s doctors. If I have one wish for 2024, it is this – and I direct this at the Scottish Government in the main – listen to the doctors of Scotland, but don’t just listen.

“Act, and act urgently, please – for the future survival of Scotland’s NHS and the patients who rely upon it. It is only by solving the medical workforce crisis that you can even think about making progress in other areas, like cutting waiting lists. It is non-negotiable.”

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Conservatives’ health spokesman and himself a GP, said whole-time GP numbers had fallen to low levels despite “continuous” warnings from doctors.

The party has said Scotland’s accident-and-emergency (A&E) departments “simply can’t cope” with demand, as new figures revealed less than two-thirds of patients are seen within four hours.

In the week to December 17, 1,708 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E – a slight increase from the previous week. A total of 3,719 of the near-25,000 A&E attendances waited more than eight hours, down from 3,860.

Health secretary Michael Matheson conceded A&E performance was “below the levels we all wish to see”, but added: “As we enter the peak winter period, we are determined to provide boards with the support they need to deal with intense pressure on services.”

Dr Gulhane said: “This appalling situation is resulting in our NHS staff becoming increasingly burned out and morale is sinking to all-time lows. The sheer hypocrisy of the SNP asking for more tax, but delivering a worse service shouldn’t be overlooked either – Michael Matheson and successive SNP health secretaries’ dire workforce planning has led to a significant shortage of GPs across Scotland, leaving patients, especially in rural and deprived areas, unsupported as a consequence of the SNP’s incompetence.”

Scottish Labour also say these warnings show the pressure NHS staff are under is a risk to patients.

Carol Mochan, the party’s public health spokeswoman, said: “At the heart of the current chaos in our NHS is a workforce crisis years in the making, but the SNP has ignored warning after warning. Workers are going above and beyond to keep patients safe and keep services running, but they are being badly failed by an incompetent SNP Government and a distracted health secretary.”

In response to the survey results, the Scottish Government said NHS staffing was at “record levels” thanks to £18 million of investments since autumn 2021 to recruit staff from overseas.

A spokesman said this would lead to the addition of an additional 1,250 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals by the end of this financial year.

“[The] Scottish Budget increases health spending by more than half a billion, underlining the need for those with the broadest shoulders to pay a little more to invest in public services,” the spokesman said.

“We are committed to growing our medical training pipeline, and to do so we have increased the number of available medical school places at Scottish universities by 67 per cent (569 places) since 2016 to a record high of 1,417 for 2023/24.”