Taxi Driver Online

Mail on Sunday

January 20, 2008 Sunday

PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER;

(1) Fury as £1,000-per-day foreign GPs flood into Scotland (2) Highcost of flying doctors to cover for Scottish GPs

FOREIGN doctors are being flown into Scotland almost every day to cover for GPs who refuse to work out-of-hours.

The medics fly budget airline Ryanair to Prestwick before being driven by taxi to the luxurious North West Castle Hotel on the edge of town, which boasts its own curling rink and AA Rosette fine-dining restaurant.

A Scottish Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed that half of the coun-trys health boards pay up to £1,000 a day to bring in medics from countries such as Germany and Poland.

Last night, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon faced a parliamentary revolt over the crisis as MSPs demanded to know why so many foreign GPs were being allowed to fly in to treat Scots at weekends.

The powerful cross-party Health committee has written to Miss Sturgeon amid warnings that lives could be lost if GPs refuse to return to traditional working patterns.

The soaring number of flying doctors from abroad has been sparked by a new contract for family doctors which has allowed them to opt out of working evenings and weekends.

Now half of Scotlands health boards have been forced to employ foreign doctors many of whom have to travel for 12 hours from their home country to see patients.

Many foreign medics, provided by specialist agencies, demand to live in five-star hotels at huge cost to the taxpayer and can earn more in a day in Scotland than they do in a month in their homeland.

The health committee has written to Miss Sturgeon demanding a full breakdown of all the foreign medics used and the cost to the taxpayer.

Ultimately, the committee can put her under pressure to force health chiefs to end the practice. The move comes after it emerged last week that NHS Grampian is paying Polish doctors up to £200 an hour to provide cover.
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