'Challenges' in recruiting consultant psychiatrists in Renfrewshire

The hurdle – which chief officer Christine Laverty insisted was a “national issue” – has affected the HSCP’s older people mental health services.

It has led to the vacancy management group agreeing to use locums to cover empty posts, which will result in a “financial pressure” for the integration joint board (IJB) – the body responsible for oversight of the HSCP.

Ms Laverty provided an update to IJB members at last week’s meeting.

She said: “The last thing I wanted to draw your attention to is some of the challenges we have around recruitment and retention of consultant psychiatrists in our older [people] mental health services.

“This is not a Renfrewshire-only issue, this is a national issue but I did want to flag it because, apart from giving us some challenges in how we provide staff, engaging locums comes with an additional cost pressure for the IJB.”

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Detail on the recruitment and retention issues was shared in a report that was considered by board members on Friday.

The paper explained: “Members will be aware that health and social care services across Scotland continue to face challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff.

“This is captured in relevant risks in the IJB’s risk and issue register, which highlights the challenges faced by key services such as mental health services, where recruitment of staff at consultant level continues to be a board-wide and national pressure.

“For the IJB’s awareness, the HSCP is currently facing significant challenges in the recruitment of consultant psychiatrists within older people mental health services.

“As a result the HSCP’s vacancy management group has agreed to the use of locums to cover current service vacancies, which will result in a financial pressure for the IJB.”

The head of mental health is expected to provide further detail on the matter to the IJB at the next meeting in September.