Health centres are trying to attract GPs with “booze cruise” socials and “fun-loving” workplaces amid staff shortages.
In a sign of the deepening recruitment crisis in general practice, managers have to come up with alternative ways of luring family doctors, says the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland.
The Tories blamed ministers for presiding over a staffing crisis that forces surgeries to throw in a “four-pack of Tennent’s” in their hunt for talent.
The Kennoway Medical Practice is hoping to entice doctors with the promise of a drinking trip along the Fife coast and other activities.
Its advert for a part-time GP post reads: “Recent social events have included a curry night, team building afternoon in ‘Escape rooms’, annual BBQ and summer bus trip along the East Neuk of Fife – ‘booze cruise’.”
Another whimsical job advert at Dr Morris and Partners in Kirkcaldy is looking for “fun-loving GPs” who can get on with an experienced support staff who “like a laugh”.
Referring to the Queensferry Crossing, it adds: “Come to Fife, we even have a new bridge!”
Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative’s health spokesman, said the adverts expose SNP mismanagement.
“If SNP ministers had properly invested in NHS workforce planning then the offer of a four-pack of Tennent’s wouldn’t be required to recruit the best and brightest to our GP surgeries,” he said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Our ambition is to increase the number of GPs by at least 800 over 10 years to ensure a sustainable service that meets increasing demand.”
