The BMA has warned that the NHS in Scotland cannot rely on solving the workforce crisis through expanding the number of physician associates (PAs) ‘as is happening in England’.
The union called on the Scottish Government to ‘properly forecast patient demand’ and urgently set out a workforce plan for Scotland.
BMA Scotland’s chair Dr Iain Kennedy said that the country’s doctor workforce crisis ‘cannot be solved on the cheap or through shortcuts’.
In a message to BMA members, he said: ‘Only doctors can truly and safely do a doctor’s job. We cannot – as is happening in England – rely on expanding other allied professions such as physician or anaesthesia associates.
‘That simply will not plug the doctor workforce gaps left by the Scottish Government’s woeful planning around the medical workforce and would threaten to make things worse for patients, who may be confused by the level of training of the professional they have actually been treated by – further threatening patient safety.
‘We at BMA Scotland have made, and will go on making, this case abundantly clear to our politicians and the public.’
He added that ‘a national conversation on the future of Scotland’s NHS, and a long-term proper medical workforce plan’ are needed.
In its recent budget announcement, the Scottish Government confirmed the conversation ‘will take place in the next financial year’.
In an interview with The Guardian, Dr Kennedy called for rural GPs to get higher pay and special status to cope with a critical shortfall of medics in the Highlands, islands and rural counties.
Dr Kennedy and other BMA leaders are also lobbying Scottish government ministers to consider a Highlands medical school to train doctors in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the number of Scottish GPs is continuing to decrease, putting in question the Government’s ability to reach a target to boost the workforce.
It comes as a series of Freedom of Information requests by the Scottish Conservatives revealed that the number of bank and agency shifts advertised by health boards increased by 110% in the last five years.
In 2018/19, 946,423 bank and agency shifts were advertised in NHS health boards. By 2022/23, this had increased by 109.7% to 1,984,722, the figures showed.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a Glasgow GP, said ‘shelling out’ for bank and agency staff to ensure frontline staff are fully supported is ‘the last thing health boards need’ when resources are already overstretched.
He also called on the Government to layout a ‘proper’ workforce plan, and added: ‘The rise in the use of bank and agency staff on the SNP’s watch is absolutely eye-watering.
‘While I know first-hand the important role bank and agency staff play in supporting our NHS, it is clear that the SNP’s dire workforce planning and mismanagement of our health service has left boards increasingly reliant on them.
‘The fact that nearly two million bank and agency shifts were advertised last year alone is deeply alarming and a shameful reflection on the SNP’s record in charge of Scotland’s NHS.
‘NHS resources are already at breaking point so the last thing health boards need to be doing is shelling out money on this scale to external staff to ensure shifts are fully covered.’
A Scottish Government spokesperson told Pulse: ‘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% (569 places) since 2016 to a record high of 1,417 for 23/24.
‘Record levels of investment will also see an additional 153 trainee doctor posts created next year in what will be the largest annual expansion on record, following on from the 152 extra posts created in 2023.
‘We have significantly expanded the multi-disciplinary primary care workforce, with total staff of 4731 whole time equivalent working in multidisciplinary team services including physiotherapy, pharmacy and phlebotomy at March 2023 and we are supporting development of these teams through investment of £190 million in 2023-24 through the Primary Care Improvement Fund.
‘We are incredibly thankful to the NHS workforce for the vital service they provide and we know they face continued pressure.
‘In March 2022 we published the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland. This strategy outlines the shared vision of: “a sustainable, skilled workforce with attractive career choices where all are respected and valued for the work they do”.’
In November, the BMA said that Government plans to ‘gradually increase’ the number of physician associates (PAs) working in the NHS in Scotland must be halted.
READERS' COMMENTS [1]
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Some common sense. And they are not being PAist, just stating the facts of how unsafe it is to ask people who are not trained and don’t know their limitations acting up as a doctor.