SNP leadership hopeful, Kate Forbes, has committed to increasing the number of places for Scottish-based medical students at Scotland’s universities if she is elected First Minister.
Acknowledging that there are further details to consider with Scotland’s five medical schools, the SNP leadership candidate said she would welcome a conversation with universities around numbers as well as the speed at which things “can be scaled up"
But the Finance Secretary also issued a stark warning that “we will have an ongoing crisis in the NHS if we don’t recruit many more doctors”.
Kate Forbes explained: “There’s clear evidence that Scottish medical students who qualify from a Scottish university are much more likely to stay in Scotland when they graduate.
“From my initial conversations with frontline medics, there is a strong rationale for growing more of our own talent here.
“NHS Scotland itself points out that ‘competition for undergraduate places is very high’ demonstrating there are plenty of well-qualified Scottish pupils keen to pursue a career in medicine.
“That’s why I would welcome a conversation with Scotland’s medical schools with the aim of increasing the number of spaces for Scottish-based medical students at our universities.”
READ MORE: Scots medical school places at 10-year low as more places go to fee-paying students
The Finance Secretary continued: “If I am elected First Minister I would like to have significant discussions with medical schools and their universities regarding actual numbers and the speed at which things can be scaled up.
“This would form part of a wider conversation – other health professionals from nurses to psychologists to speech therapists are all part of the picture and we mustn’t forget about them either.
“Looking overseas, there are many countries who are rightly demanding better healthcare, and as healthcare in the USA is becoming more accessible as a result of Obamacare the international competition for doctors is very intense.
“But that’s another reason for us to be more ambitious at home.
“Long-term planning is key, but bluntly we will have an ongoing crisis in the NHS if we don’t recruit many more doctors.”
Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “This is yet more shameful opportunism and hypocrisy from Kate Forbes.
“Her apparent desire to belatedly address the SNP’s dire NHS workforce planning would have more credibility if she hadn’t voted against the very policy she’s now touting.
“The Scottish Conservatives have been calling on the cap on homegrown medical students at Scotland’s universities to be lifted for some time – but Kate Forbes voted against my motion in the Scottish Parliament.
“Her selective amnesia was also apparent last week, when she became a latter-day convert to the urgent need for A9 dualling. This, despite having done precious little about it as either finance secretary in charge of the purse strings or in almost seven years as a Highland MSP whose constituents are directly affected.
“Continuity Kate is desperate to paint herself as the change candidate – despite having been at the heart of Nicola Sturgeon’s government – but she can’t airbrush her own past.”
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