Fears raised over exodus of NHS consultants in Scotland

Scotland's health service could face an exodus of consultants, a leading doctor has warned.

Dr Graeme Eunson, chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland's consultant committee, also said he cannot recall a time in his career "when things have been this tough".

The consultant paediatrician said "rock bottom morale" as well as concerns over pension tax charges was to blame.

Ministers have warned the NHS is facing its toughest ever winter.

The Scottish government has put in a £300m funding package to help the health services get through what it described as the "extremely challenging" months ahead.

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But writing in a blog, Dr Eunson warned the NHS in Scotland "is in full blown crisis".

He said: "What I hear consistently is that consultants are prepared to stick at it for this winter and while we remain in pandemic.

"And that's backed up by evidence from our recent survey of doctors following this year's pay award.

"When you analyse those figures, and filter out those too young to take voluntary early retirement (VER), some 70% of consultants asked said they were planning to take VER - either prompted (19.2%), or confirmed (30%) by the pay award, or were going to do it regardless of pay (21%).

"If this is in any way representative - and we fear it is - and we don't act urgently, then the NHS faces an exodus of consultants from NHS Scotland in the near future."

In August, doctors and dental staff in Scotland were awarded a 3% pay rise backdated to 1 April.

Armed forces personnel have been helping some of Scotland's health boards, with tasks such as rolling out the Covid vaccination programme. in recent months

Dr Eunson cited an ongoing complex row over tax bills for consultants' pensions which he said has left some colleagues facing the prospect of retiring or working less to ensure they are not out of pocket.

'Significant pressure'

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has previously said the health service was experiencing "significant pressure" because of Covid admissions and a backlog in care built up over the course of the pandemic.

Military assistance is in place at a number of health boards across the country and waiting times for A&E remain at record levels.

Dr Eunson added that "stop-gap solutions may just help us get through this winter - although that remains to be seen - but even beyond that the picture looks bleak."

A Scottish government spokesperson said the health secretary meets regularly with the BMA where issues related to the workforce are discussed.

"We recognise the challenges health and social care services are experiencing," they added. "That is why we have announced a record £300m of new investment in measures to help services deal with system pressures over winter.

"To ensure our health and social care staff can continue to be able to best care for us, we need to make sure we continue to care for them by looking after their wellbeing this winter. This is why we are investing an additional £4m in staff wellbeing measures, in addition to the £8m made available through the NHS Recovery Plan.

"As well as direct workforce investment, we are introducing measures to maximise capacity in our hospitals, reduce delayed discharges and improve social care pay. These measures will ensure patients are cared for in the right setting within their community and alleviate pressures on frontline health services."

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