More than 600 consultant vacancies are ‘missing’ from figures published by the Scottish Government, BMA Scotland has warned today.

An FOI request to Scotland’s health boards has revealed a total of 1,076 whole time equivalent (WTE) consultant vacancies, compared to 439 reported in government statistics – enough to staff two large hospitals.

The vacancy rate is 15.16%, more than double the 6.9% given in the most recent official report.

Consultant vacancies have also risen since the last time the figures were collated by BMA Scotland, with a rate of 14.32% (937 WTE) vacancies reported in December 2022.

Official figures do not include posts that are temporarily filled by locums, posts that have not yet been advertised and posts that have remained vacant for so long they are no longer being advertised.

Dr Alan Robertson, chair of the BMA’s Scottish Consultants Committee, said: “Consultant vacancies remain worryingly high and these figures which show there are more than 600 consultant vacancies ‘missing’ from official statistics come as no surprise given the deepening medical workforce crisis we are clearly in.

“It should also be extremely concerning for anyone who cares for or relies on our NHS that no progress has been made on tackling the issue, with the vacancy rate rising since the last time they were collated by BMA Scotland.

“The official figures published by the Scottish Government are failing to provide a true picture of the stark reality of the huge challenges in recruitment and retention at health boards across Scotland.

“The Scottish Government needs to be honest, not only with the public, but also with those of us working in the NHS. When they declare ‘more doctors than ever before’ not only are they not accounting for the full scale of demand being put on services but they are not being honest about the senior doctors we are missing from the workforce or how many more are needed.

“The failure to acknowledge the true scale of the problem reflects our wider concerns about the culture of fear, blame and lack of openness that often dominates debate about our NHS which can prevent proper, open discussion on solutions.

“Morale is low across the profession, with the constant increase in pressure on the NHS and decline in time and resources meaning we simply cannot provide the level of care we want and that our patients deserve.

“We are constantly trying to plug gaps in rotas and make it through each shift one day at a time.

“These gaps are often filled by external locums at a much higher cost to the NHS – and this is a direct consequence of recruitment and retention problems which are being caused by the failure to address issues such as long-term erosion of pay.

“Continual poor pay awards mean consultants do not feel valued by government or employers. The additional income tax bands announced by the Scottish Government, which have just come into effect (5 April 2024) also means that doctors will pay more in tax if they live in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK and face a major disincentive to take in extra work.

“This is a crisis that needs tackled urgently and improved pay is a straightforward way to help improve morale – we need to make the NHS in Scotland a better and more rewarding place to work so we don’t lose consultants to elsewhere in the UK or further afield.

“The recent pay offer agreed with English consultants must be taken into account when setting pay levels for consultants in Scotland or the current issues with recruitment and retention of senior doctors will only get worse.

“We also need a proper workforce plan which recognises the true rate of Scotland’s medical workforce vacancies and then plans, recruits and retains the staff needed for the services the public require and expect and ensures the long-term sustainability of our health service.

Notes for editors: 

BMA Scotland’s FOI data for vacancies took into consideration posts that are temporarily filled by locums, posts that have not yet been advertised, and posts that have remained vacant for so long they are no longer being advertised. The official figures released by NES for the Scottish Government do not account for any of these vacancies. 

The most recent quarterly figures on consultant vacancy rates published by National Education Scotland (NES) are as of September 2023 and can be found here.