24 June 2010

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has raised fears about the increasing number of locum doctors being used in the Western Isles because of a shortage of trainee doctors.

She has voiced her concerns in the wake of a new report by the Auditor General for Scotland Robert Black which reveals the increasing amounts being spent on locums and concerns over "the potential risk to patient safety" by employing them.

This follows a recent report from NHS Western Isles which reveals that "recruitment to training posts is proving to be very challenging".

It explains that the Northern Deanery, where most of the doctors in training in the Highlands and Islands are recruited, is having major difficulties in recruiting junior doctors, with the more remote areas, including the Western Isles, especially vulnerable.

Rhoda Grant said: "I am worried about the difficulty of recruiting trainee doctors in the Western Isles and the consequent extra cost of employing locums and possible threat to patient safety.

"I have already questioned the Cabinet Secretary on a couple of occasion in the parliament and she appears unconcerned about this problem".

I will be writing to her again on the back of the Western Isles Workforce report to emphasis the urgency of this shortfall."

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