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Red tape cut for NHS consultants
01/07/2009
The way consultants are appointed in the NHS is being radically overhauled for the first time since the creation of the health service more than sixty years ago.
Regulations coming into effect today allow health boards to use the same modern recruitment procedures for consultants as they do for all other NHS jobs and scrapping the Appointment Advisory Committee process.
The new regulations will cut the red tape that has governed the appointment of consultants since 1948.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
"Scotland's most senior doctors have a great deal of responsibility on their shoulders, and health boards must have the right tools at their disposal to choose the right people.
"Existing rules mean it takes six months on average to fill a consultant position. Meantime, hospitals use expensive locum cover and highly-skilled professionals can be left waiting before securing permanent jobs.
"Both health boards and the medical profession are keen to see this modernised. The new regulations will streamline appointment panels and allow boards much more local control.
"An external advisor authorised by the Royal Colleges will sit on all appointment panels, and in addition to simple interviews boards will be able to use what are now standard recruitment methods - profiling, aptitude tests and multi-station assessments, for example.
"I'm confident that these regulations coming into effect today strike the right balance between rigorous scrutiny of candidates and cutting red tape."
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's Medical Director Dr Brian Cowan sits on NHS Scotland's Management Steering Group. He said:
"Health boards in Scotland are delighted with the opportunity to make improvements to this selection process. Consultants are key to delivering high quality patient services and robust recruitment is an important board responsibility.
"It is vitally important that we have the best and most up to date system in place for recruiting the most senior doctors to the NHS."
Professor Sir Neil Douglas, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Chair of the Scottish Academy of Royal Colleges and Faculties, said:
"The Royal Colleges and Faculties are delighted to provide experienced external advisers to support health boards as they recruit consultants to work in hospitals across Scotland.
"The NHS makes a huge investment in senior medical staff and it is important that patients are confident that all newly appointed consultants have the appropriate training for the post and are fit to practice."
Minor changes have been made to the consultant appointment process since 1948, with the most recent revision in 1993. Online advertising has only been permitted since 2006.
The National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 were laid before the Scottish Parliament on April 29 and will apply to consultant posts advertised on or after July 1, 2009.