Anaesthetic staffing and training requirements in Scotland.

In Scotland there is an average of 12 consultant vacancies and 14 Fellows qualifying per year, but these are insufficient to meet all the vacancies as several emigrate or return abroad. The existing registrar and senior registrar establishments are inadequate to meet the numbers of consultants required if full allowance is made for special factors, such as the high proportion of women graduates and the rising proportion of overseas trainees.A backlog of understaffing in Scotland relative to England and Wales is shown by comparison of the ratio of anaesthetists to surgeons. The existing rate of expansion of 6% per year must continue for many years or be increased if staffing levels are to come into line with those elsewhere in Britain.