Senior NHS managers in Scotland have revealed plans to use emergency measures for basic healthcare. The Scottish Government has announced that it will introduce a new system of “community health services” (CHS) which would see the introduction of GP surgeries and other services run by local authorities. The Scottish Association of Medical Directors (SAMD) says that doctors could switch hospitals as an extension of emergency measures to plug gaps when staff numbers run low. The plan to address staffing issues by sharing doctors between hospitals in different areas is designed to avoid disruption to routine patient care and help tackle spending on locums for short term cover. Chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr. Peter Bennie, said the proposal underlines the severity of the problems in recruiting and retaining all grades of doctors in Scotland. He added that it is not a viable substitute to filling vacant positions and that using emergency mutual aid procedures to provide basic services will only ever be an extremely short-term option. His comments were echoed by Jackson Carlow, health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives.
Senior NHS managers in Scotland have revealed plans to use emergency measures for basic healthcare. The Scottish Government has announced that it will introduce a new system of “community health services” (CHS) which would see the introduction of GP surgeries and other services run by local authorities. The plan to address staffing issues by sharing doctors between hospitals in different areas is designed to avoid disruption to routine patient care and help tackle spending on locums for short term cover. Chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr. Peter Bennie, said the proposal underlines the severity of the problems in recruiting and retaining all grades of doctors in Scotland. He added that it is not a viable substitute to filling vacant positions and that using emergency mutual aid procedures to provide basic services will only ever be an extremely short-term option. His comments were echoed by Jackson Carlow, health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives.