Exclusive:Survey: One in four Scots doctors say services in their department 'normally unsafe'

A survey of consultants and SAS (specialty, associate specialist and specialist) doctors found almost a third (31 per cent) are seeking to leave the NHS within the next five years.

Almost one in four (23 per cent) said their workload is unmanageable and 26 per cent said services in their areas of work are normally unsafe.

Dr Joanna Bredski, chair of the BMA Scotland consultant committee, said the results told a “worrying story”.

She said: “Two thirds of doctors said that work is harming their wellbeing. Particularly concerning was that one in four doctors told us that services in their areas of work are normally unsafe. Burnout and poor mental health are now the number one cause of all ill health absence in the UK.”

Dr Bredski added: “To survive huge pressure at work many Scottish consultants are seeking to reduce their working week. Our survey showed that one in three doctors aim to reduce their working hours within the next 12 months and that in five years’ time a third of doctors intend to have reduced their working hours and a further third to have left the NHS entirely.

“We know - from official figures and from our own Freedom of Information requests – the large and growing number of consultant vacancies in this country. We know the mismatch between demand and what can be provided within existing resources. We cannot afford to lose more doctors to burnout.

“We cannot tackle waiting lists, improve patient care and reverse unsafe services unless doctors are supported to perform at their best, to thrive and to lead.”

The BMA survey attracted more than 450 responses from consultant and SAS doctors across Scotland. It was open for a month between September 19 and October 20, and the vast majority of those who responded (more than 80 per cent) were consultants.

Figures show there were 447 full-time equivalent consultant vacancies as of September 30, 2025, compared with 398 at the same time last year.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These findings are a damning indictment of the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s NHS.

“The failure by successive health secretaries to support frontline services and staff is putting them and patients at risk.

“It should never have reached a point where so many doctors have been pushed beyond breaking point and don’t feel safe when carrying out their work.

“This is now the norm in our NHS on the SNP’s watch. [Health Secretary] Neil Gray must accept his current approach is failing and get a grip of this situation, otherwise our health service will collapse this winter.”

It came as a separate survey suggested more than one third of nurses are considering leaving the profession. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland spoke to almost 1,900 nurses in Scotland as part of its state of the profession report.

It found 37 per cent were actively planning on leaving the job, 74 per cent of whom said the key reason was feeling undervalued.

Two thirds also reported working more than their contracted hours, while 68 per cent of respondents said they felt their pay was “inappropriate” given the responsibilities they have.

As of September, there were 2,800 vacancies in nursing in Scotland.

Responding to the report, the RCN called on the Government to implement the recommendations of a taskforce on nursing and midwifery published earlier this year.

Meanwhile, figures showed A&E waiting times for October were the worst since January, sparking claims the NHS is in “freefall”.

Statistics released on Tuesday show 66.8 per cent of attendances during October were seen within four hours, the lowest monthly figure since 66.3 per cent at the end of last winter.

The figure was also down from the previous month, when 67.8 per cent of people were seen in four hours.

The Scottish Government aims for 95 per cent of people to be seen within the four-hour time frame.

Elsewhere, the proportion of people waiting more than 12 hours rose from 4.2 per cent to 4.8 per cent in October, and those waiting more than eight hours went up from 10.4 per cent to 11.4 per cent.

Weekly figures for A&E waiting times, however, show a slightly improving picture, with 64.7 per cent of people seen within the four-hour period in the week to November 16, up from 61.4 per cent the previous week but still well below the 95 per cent target.

Eight-hour and 12-hour waits also dropped in that week, to 12.8 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively.

Responding to the figures, Dr Gulhane said: “These appalling statistics expose an NHS in freefall under the SNP.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said the NHS is in a “constant state of crisis” and is facing a “disastrous” winter.

“Every month thousands of Scots face dangerously long waits for urgent care despite the tireless efforts of NHS staff, but the SNP has no answers for either of them,” she said.

“With things already at crisis point in October, we are at risk of a disastrous winter if the SNP doesn’t act. We need a real plan to keep Scots safe this winter and ease the pressure on A&E, including by ramping up the rate of flu vaccinations.”