A BMA Scotland survey has found that 7 in 10 resident doctor respondents are concerned around possible unemployment from August 2025 onwards.

Concerns have been raised by resident doctors across Scotland about a lack of training places, job security and potential medical unemployment.

The BMA’s Scottish resident doctor committee opened a survey to ascertain how widespread these concerns were and the impact it was having those seeking to work and train to be senior doctors in Scotland.  

The figures are stark, of the 7 in 10 doctors who are concerned about future employment:

• 86% of respondents are either very or somewhat dissatisfied with their current employment situation.
• 27% were unsuccessful in applying for specialty training.
• 11% are applying for medical jobs abroad and 28% are looking into moving either to another UK country or abroad should they not secure employment in Scotland next year.
• 21% are looking at an alternative career or return to formal education not in medicine. 

The comments made in the survey also show the impact of the issue:

• “I do not know if I will be able to pay my rent come August”
• “Will seriously consider leaving medicine and re-training as something else if this continues”
• “Had hoped to stay in Scotland but increasingly moving abroad looks to be the only sensible option”
• “I feel that I may be forced out of the NHS”
• “I'm having to consider working in supermarkets or something similar"
• “The future feels quite bleak just now”

 
Scottish resident doctor committee chair, Dr Chris Smith, said:

“At a time when patients are already worried about access to health care, with ever growing waiting lists and not enough GPs to deal with the demand, it beggars' belief that a new cohort of medical graduates are already considering moving country, taking a career break or even exploring the possibility of a different career path, some before they even begin training. Quite simply, there are not enough training places or jobs to allow them to continue to practice medicine in Scotland.

“The response from doctors to this survey has only further highlighted the emerging medical unemployment crisis in Scotland, which is by extension a crisis for our NHS and patients. The prospect of growing medical unemployment is a sobering one and the BMA is calling for this to be tackled immediately. Competition and pressure was a theme that featured in the survey responses. We know this isn't because we have a surplus of doctors, it is because we don't have enough training places and jobs.

“The comments in our survey have proved for difficult reading.  We have doctors worried about financial security, how to pay their mortgage and care for their dependents, doctors considering moving away for a job and the impact that will have on those who rely on them or for who they have caring responsibilities.  For others moving is not an option and they are considering alternative employment or returning to higher education to do something completely different.

“It feels wasteful and somewhat immoral to encourage people to persevere through an intensive and expensive degree, to take on debt only to find themselves unable to secure a training job that allows them to become one of the many senior doctors that Scotland is screaming out for. And it should be remembered that medicine is a globally competitive market; not only do we want to encourage people to make Scotland their home, but we need to retain those doctors into whose training the Scottish public have invested -  doctors who have in turn become invested and embedded into Scottish society.

“This problem has been building for the past few years, and we have warned the Scottish Government that it would reach crisis point if something was not done to deal with the disparity in medical graduates and the number of training posts available. All this is symptomatic of lack of a proper and comprehensive workforce plan for Scotland.  To ensure current and future workforce matches with the populations' health care needs, then as a matter of urgency, the Scottish Government must bring forward a workforce plan.  Without it the sustainability of the NHS is in jeopardy.

"I speak to this issue with more insight and understanding than I want because I am also struggling to get a training post. I am grateful to have secured a local job, but it is only for one year, and before I know it I will be back to the stress and worry of trying to secure a training post. I can't lie, I am genuinely considering if practicing medicine, in Scotland, is something I still want to pursue. Not because I don't want to live here or feel my vocation to be a doctor, but because at this stage I need to think about whether I can continue to stall my career progression and life waiting for a permanent training job.

"This survey has proved I am not alone in this, and our snapshot survey has shown how widespread concerns are. The Scottish Government has said that it is committed to making Scotland a place of choice to work and train, but that goal can only be realised when there are the opportunities to work and access to quality training. For an emerging lost tribe of doctors, even that can seem out of reach at times."

Notes to editors

The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.