'Escape the rat race' - Five GPs wanted for new practice on Scottish island with salary up to £160k

NHS Western Isles is looking for rural acute GPs for Uist and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.

The area extends from the fishing port of Lochmaddy in the north to the beaches of Lochboisdale in the south.

The pay will include a 40 per cent “enhanced rate” on top of the normal pay range of £74,192 to £110,737. It means successful applicants paid the highest salary will earn more than £155,032. This is then added to with a distant island allowance of £1,349 per annum, plus relocation expenses and a £10,000 “golden hello” scheme - a financial incentive offered by the employer.

The successful applicants would form a team that would be part of a new GP practice on the islands, which NHS Western Isles will manage.

The health board said: “We are ready and excited to welcome GPs with a sense of adventure and a passion for remote and rural medicine to escape the rat race and embrace a more healthy work-life balance with NHS Western Isles.”

The posts will be based in Benbecula Medical Practice, an island between the north and south Uist that is connected by causeways.

The health board said the role will also involve community hospital medical cover at the Uist and Barra Hospital (Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh) - which has some 30 beds.

The job posts come as doctors’ surgeries across rural Scotland have been struggling to recruit GPs. The Western Isles is among the areas worst affected.

This is partly down to soaring house prices, fuelled by a surge in crofts being converted into second homes and competition for properties from wealthy retirees. The isle of Lewis saw its first house go on the market for £1m last year.

GPs have also previously complained about the condition of the surgeries.

The job advert follows a campaign led by NHS Western Isles to attract GPs to the islands last year, with salaries advertised 6 per cent lower than what they are on offer for now.

The health board is said to have first offered enhanced salaries in 2023 to fill longstanding vacancies on Barra and Vatersay, the Gaelic-speaking islands south of Uist.

The British Medical Association has previously said these pay rates were proof of how serious the rural recruitment crisis had become.

The job advert added: “We are looking for self-reliant and highly-motivated GPs to join our multi-disciplinary team, working closely with our Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Advanced Paramedic Practitioner, wider Community Nursing Team, and other primary care specialist clinicians, including our Primary Care Pharmacist and First Contact Physiotherapist.

“Peer support will also be provided from consultant teams in Stornoway and from mainland colleagues, including emergency retrieval teams.”

Job applications are open until March 13.