Scotland has fallen behind other countries for incentives on offer for doctors to work in under-staffed A&E departments, a Scottish Parliament committee heard.

National agreements on pay and conditions mean health boards north of the Border are unable to put together attractive packages such as those offered by NHS trusts in England, the Public Audit Committee was told.

Boards are also facing problems retaining experienced consultants who are tempted overseas by higher salaries or opt to retire early due to pension changes.

The number of young doctors trained in the UK or Ireland who have uprooted to Australia has also soared 69 per cent, from 285 in 2008 to 481 in 2012.

The starting salary for a newly qualified A&E consultant in Australia is $AUS 175,000 (£94,300), substantially more than the NHS rate.

Three health boards, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Tayside, were giving evidence to the committee on an Audit Scotland report on A&E performance. The report, published in May, showed the number of patients forced to wait too long in A&E departments has almost trebled in five years.

More recently, concerns about workforce shortages were raised over staffing at A&E units in Lanarkshire and Grampian.

Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen, the NHS Grampian medical director, told MSPs: "I think Scotland has fallen behind a little in terms of the incentives it gives to medical practitioners to work in Scotland.

"There is a possibility for trusts in England to provide incentives we as health care organisations cannot do. We have national terms and conditions, national agreements, national pay deals we cannot deviate from."

He said A&E was "unpopular as a speciality across the UK".

Professor James Ferguson, a consultant in emergency medicine at NHS Grampian, told the committee: "We are finding a large number of senior clinicians are now being attracted to go and work overseas once their children are grown up. I get offers on a daily basis for ridiculous sums of money."

Senior emergency room (ER) physicians in America can earn up to $500,000 a year (£310,000), with an average ER salary coming in about $270,000 (£167,000) - the top rate for an experienced A&E consultant in the NHS.

Professor Ferguson said pension changes meant doctors were also opting for early retirement. "Suddenly, you are not only unable to recruit, but the guys you have got who traditionally worked until they were 65 are going," he said. "The whole system is inert."