Question
Untitled item
S5W-20416 · Written Question · lodged by Lennon, Monica
Lodged on
06 Dec 2018Heard / answered on
18 Dec 2018To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to BMA Scotland's comment that ISD statistics underestimate the consultant vacancy rate by excluding posts that have yet to be cleared to be advertised and do not take account of the reliance on locum doctors and “that by not including certain categories of vacancy, the official statistics simply don’t provide the full picture of the scale of consultant vacancies in our NHS”.
The answer
The number of consultants in post in NHS Scotland has increased by 50.8% under this Government, from 3,636.6 WTE in Sep 2006 to 5,484.8 in September 2018.
Vacancy statistics are a key part of quarterly official workforce statistics published by ISD Scotland and follow agreed measures of the size and composition of the NHS Scotland workforce.
Clear, agreed definitions are necessary to allow consistent comparison over time, and between individual NHS Boards. Every effort is made to ensure that in responding to ISD Scotland, Boards comply with data collection guidelines carefully, accurately and consistently.
We expect NHS Boards to always prioritise the recruitment of permanent staff to vacant posts. While this is taking place, the use of temporary staff allows essential services to patients to continue.
Vacancy statistics are a key part of quarterly official workforce statistics published by ISD Scotland and follow agreed measures of the size and composition of the NHS Scotland workforce.
Clear, agreed definitions are necessary to allow consistent comparison over time, and between individual NHS Boards. Every effort is made to ensure that in responding to ISD Scotland, Boards comply with data collection guidelines carefully, accurately and consistently.
We expect NHS Boards to always prioritise the recruitment of permanent staff to vacant posts. While this is taking place, the use of temporary staff allows essential services to patients to continue.
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 Dec 2018.