RCPCH Officer for Scotland, Dr Mairi Stark, said:
The Audit Scotland report raises serious concerns about our NHS and the significant pressures on the workforce. All healthcare professionals, including paediatricians can clearly see growing demand for health services, especially children’s health services, where there are some of the longest waits for treatment. Our members are doing their upmost to shorten these waits, but it’s next to impossible to make progress without further support. We agree that a significant service transformation is needed, and that paediatric services must be a priority for the Scottish Government.
If we are ever to get ahead of these pressures, then we need to focus on bolstering our workforce and improving our work on preventative healthcare. We are first and foremost calling for a full and comprehensive review of the child health workforce. Once we understand the scale of the problem, we need a bespoke child health workforce strategy that responds to the immediate needs and financial pressures. The plans should consider future and growing children and young people’s needs.
We need to give the children of Scotland the workforce they deserve. By supporting the workforce, tackling the long waits and stamping out poverty we can create healthy children who turn into healthy adults. This sort of investment in our future is an obvious win.