DOCTORS have cast doubt over a £32 million Scottish government plan to recruit more health professionals, warning that the proposals could see junior medics being used to “plug gaps” in the workforce.

The Scottish government unveiled a “significant expansion of trainee doctors” today, with 139 additional trainees to be taken on. 

These would be focussed in those areas of the NHS that have come under greatest pressure as Scotland looks to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said. 

But officials from the British Medical Association (BMA) cast doubt over the scale of staffing increases and investment pledged by ministers compared to the challenges the NHS is facing.

Trainee doctors currently make up more than two-fifths of the doctors employed by NHS boards.

The new posts will see most successful applicants start from autumn 2022, in specialities including cancer, intensive care and respiratory medicine.

Mr Yousaf said: “Our healthcare staff have been vital in our response to Covid-19, which has reinforced the importance of ensuring that we have the right staff in the right place at the right time.”

BMA Scottish junior doctor committee chairwoman Dr Lailah Peel welcomed the investment but warned that the number of senior vacancies continues to make life difficult. 

She stressed that any investment must be part of a long-term workforce plan which allows doctors to support existing staff to ensure that they do not choose to leave the NHS prematurely as a result of exhaustion, stress or feeling undervalued.

Dr Peel said: “This investment to train more doctors is welcome — but it needs to be part of a much bigger plan and the Scottish junior doctor committee looks forward to working with the Scottish government, and employers, to take things forward.”