The number of NHS consultant vacancies in Fife is “shocking” according to Labour MSP Claire Baker.
The swathe of empty consultant and nursing posts has prompted another MSP to urge the Scottish Government to sort it out “once and for all”.
Latest figures released by ISD Scotland showed more than 500 consultant, midwife and nurse vacancies in NHS Tayside, Fife and Forth Valley.
Raising concern in Fife is the number of consultant posts still to be filled.
According to the report, there are 47 consultant vacancies across NHS Fife.
In emergency medicine there are seven consultants working with six vacancies empty for six months or more.
In comparison NHS Tayside is looking for 13 consultants, 2.6% of its workforce, and has no emergency medicine consultants’ vacancies.
She said: “These shocking figures underline the pressures currently facing NHS Fife and the need for the Scottish Government to get a grip on recruitment before we reach breaking point.
“Recently we had the very serious threat of closure of the ICU for a night at the Victoria Hospital. We need to move beyond short term solutions such as agency staff and towards securing permanent staff to Fife.”
She said questions had to be asked why NHS Fife, with a state of the art hospital, was struggling to fill these posts.
She said the Scottish Government must be honest about staffing levels and whether there were enough trained and specialised staff to cope with demand.
Murdo Fraser MSP said: “The SNP has to realise that nurses and doctors are operating under extreme pressure and are calling out for more staff to help ease demand.
“Unfortunately leaving wards short of nurses will result in poorer care and it’s time the SNP took action to address this once and for all.”
Health Secretary Shona Robison said NHS Fife and Tayside were receiving record high funding which has seen them increase their staffing to historically high levels.
“Under this Government staffing in NHS Fife and Tayside has increased by almost 1,300.”
She argued the rise in consultant vacancies in Scotland was largely a reflection of the creation of new posts as the workforces expands.
NHS Fife director of human resources Rona King said: “While NHS Fife has faced challenges in recruiting to consultant posts, our targeted recruitment campaign has resulted in the appointment of 37 permanent consultants since the beginning of 2015.”
Since the ISD report, she said 13 permanent consultants had been appointed, with 10 more due “in the coming weeks and months”.
“All existing vacancies are currently covered by other means,” she said.