Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether staffing levels across NHS dermatology services are sufficient.
The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland and its workforce. Operational matters, including the staffing of individual services, are the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board.
Workforce statistics, including statistics on certain roles within dermatology services across NHS Scotland, can be found at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence
The Scottish Government works with a stakeholder group (which includes NHS Education for Scotland, the British Medical Association, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and various Health Board representatives including regional workforce planners) to undertake annual reviews of the number of specialty training places (for resident doctors) needed across all specialties (including dermatology) in order to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need.
At a local level, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.