This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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The expanding medical workforce
28/02/2003
The number of medical and dental staff in NHSScotland
has increased by more than 630 according to new figures
released today.
The figures from the Information and Statistics
Division, which exclude numbers in the primary care
sectior, show an across the board increase for all
professional groups.
The comparison of the figures from 2001 to 2002
show:
- The number of all medical and dental staff
(excluding primary care) has increased by 633 from
10,562 to 11,195
- The number of medical staff has increased by 579
from 7,990 to 8,569
The medical staff rise is due mainly to increases in the
training grades
- 17.1 per cent increase in hospital medical
registrars
- 11.7 per cent increase in the house officer
grades
- 8.4 per cent increase in the senior house officer
grade
- The number of consultants has increased by 105 to
3,180
Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan said:
"We know that service improvements within the health
service need to be underpinned by staffing expansion. That
is why I am pleased to see that the numbers of staff are
moving in the right direction.
"We have made a commitment to increase the number of
consultants by 600 and I am pleased to see that some of the
biggest increases are in the grades that ''feed''
consultant posts. This suggests that we are on track.
"The increase in vacancy numbers is a reflection of the
increased establishment. The encouraging fact is that the
longer term rate has remained the same at 1.9 per cent.
"But we are not complacent and we will continue the
drive to recruit more staff to NHSScotland as well as
increasing our efforts to better planning for the workforce
in Scotland."