DOCTORS’ union the British Medical Association (BMA) took aim at the Scottish government today for failing to tackle the country’s shortage of doctors.

The union said that members are at breaking point, with pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic increasing their workflow, causing “huge fatigue, frustration and unhappiness.”

BMA Scotland chairman Dr Lewis Morrison has urged ministers to enforce a “proper plan” to reverse the shortages of doctors in both specialities and general practice in order to reduce the current workload.

He said that improving the working circumstances of doctors must be “at the top of government and health boards’ to-do lists.”

He said any plan must deal with the “very real issue of retaining the doctors we do have when so many are exhausted and looking to reduce their workload, leave or retire.” 

Dr Morrison, who will step down as chairman in autumn next year, set out several steps he believed the Scottish government should take in 2022 to help relieve the pressure on doctors and NHS Scotland.

These included better salaries for doctors as inflation increases and “an open and honest conversation on the future of the NHS.”

Dr Morrison praised doctors for their “astonishing” efforts during the pandemic and said they deserve better in 2022.

In November this year, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow published its Scottish Medical Workforce Solutions Paper, providing recommendations to address the ongoing workforce challenges within NHS Scotland.

The paper reviewed current key issues and outlined a series of actions to be considered across three areas: planning, supply and retention.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said that the country has “a record number” of staff, with more GPs per head in Scotland than the rest of Britain.

She said staffing levels have increased by 3.6 per cent in the last year and that NHS medical staff in Scotland are “the best paid staff in the UK.”

She said that the government is on track to deliver on its commitment of 800 additional GPs in the next decade.

The call comes as the BMA in England warned that the British government is ignoring the elephant in the room as hospitalisations reach their highest level since March, putting further pressure on hospital staff. 

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA’s ruling council, warned in the Financial Times that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had ignored rising staff absences and stressed that current data was understating the current severity of the situation.