Association statement on the Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry report
14 October 2024
The Association of Anaesthetists welcomes the findings of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry report. Our statement has been drafted with the input of our Scottish Standing Committee, comprised of clinicians working in Scotland with a deep understanding of the issues raised in the committee’s report.
We fully support recommendations around the need for greater availability of education and training in rural and remote areas. At present the lack of opportunities in these areas for both doctors in training and trainers is very likely one of the reasons for difficulty in attracting healthcare professionals including anaesthetists.
At present, remote and rural working is considered a lifestyle choice by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and is recognised in the training curriculum as an additional, but not compulsory, learning opportunity. We believe it may therefore be necessary to reconsider how remote and rural working is viewed by NES, including allowing for longer rotational placements in district general hospitals, especially for those with school age children who may not be mobile, or partners who will not be open to regular relocation. We however also acknowledge that longer rotational placements may discourage others and there should be flexibility in this area.
We recognise the report’s findings that issues including rural isolation and its impacts on some doctors and insufficient infrastructure including housing and digital connectivity at present is preventing the effective recruitment and retention of a sufficient medical workforce. We therefore support the committee’s calls for renewed effort to address these challenges, essential in fostering a sustainable workforce whose wellbeing is prioritised.
We believe that incentivising doctors to remain in rural and remote areas beyond the completion of training should be considered as an approach both to ensure retention and to avoid growing reliance on locum staff recruitment, estimated to cost £119M a year (for private agency hire only, not including local locum costs that are funded by Health Boards).
The report sets out a number of considered and appropriate measures to tackle the challenges in rural and remote healthcare and we fully support efforts to rebalance healthcare provision these areas. Addressing the issues in rural and remote healthcare is a significant challenge but one that is necessary in improving the quality of lives of healthcare workers, including anaesthetists and the patients they serve.