Government action has been demanded to resolve a long-standing shortage of consultants in NHS Fife as it emerged almost one in five posts are vacant.
Of 282 full-time positions, 53 are unfilled, despite action to recruit more medical professionals.
Although the number of consultants in post is at its highest since the SNP came to power, MSP Alex Rowley said the situation remained “unacceptable” and urged Health Secretary Shona Robison to deal with the problem which he said affected patient care.
He said: “With this level of shortage of consultants, gaps have to be plugged using locums and bringing in people from England or from abroad.
“That is very expensive and that money could be spent on other things such as preventative health measures.”
Mr Rowley said NHS Fife had had some success in recruiting consultants but was unable to tackle the problem alone.
As better recruitment and retention of consultants in cities has been linked in part the presence of teaching hospitals, Mr Rowley also called for exploration of better links with St Andrews University with a view to establishing teaching status at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital.
NHS Fife said more consultants are due to take up posts soon.
Chief executive Paul Hawkins said: “In common with other boards across Scotland, NHS Fife experiences some challenges in recruiting to consultant posts.
“It is, however, important to highlight that many of these vacancies are covered by other means and I am delighted to confirm that we have appointed 20 consultants who will start in NHS Fife over the next few months.
“We are committed to providing patients with the best possible standard of care and it is important to reassure the public that, whilst we continue to work towards reducing the number of consultant vacancies, we are operating at staffing levels which are safe and appropriate.”
Ms Robison has defended the Government’s record on healthcare and said that staff retention was crucially important.