New figures have revealed the shortage of mental health lead clinicians in NHS Scotland, with 1 in 8 consultant psychiatrist posts unfilled due to staff shortages.

Two of the three island health boards, Western Isles and Orkney, do not have any permanent consultant psychiatrists in place and the roles are being filled on a locum basis.

Meanwhile one of the two consultant roles in NHS Shetland is being filled by temporary staff.

Around 13% of the consultant psychiatrist posts in NHS Scotland are unfilled, according to the figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, equating to 82 roles out of 632.

Of the mainland boards, NHS Ayrshire & Arran has the highest proportion of psychiatrist vacancies with nearly one in three of the 33 posts empty.

In contrast just 5% of the positions at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, the largest health board, do not have permanent staff.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman, says these staffing gaps have a knock-on effect on the rest of the NHS:

“Even before the pandemic there were thousands of children waiting more than a year for treatment and no one seriously imagines that the situation has got better.

“These figures show gaping holes in mental health staffing. Not only is this bad for patients but it piles pressure on other services like accident and emergency. 

“The Scottish government must get serious about staffing. They must invest in a proper national health service recovery plan that includes proposals that ensure our national mental health is a priority and puts the staff and resources in place to make that happen.” 

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