JUNIOR doctors should not be used to plug hospital rota gaps over winter if it delays them from completing their consultant training, one of Scotland's top medics has warned.

Professor Jackie Taylor, the newly-appointed president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, said she was aware of situations where NHS bosses have extended the training period for junior doctors so that they can be sent to busy departments, such as A&E, as part of health board plans to cope with winter.

Prof Taylor said the College fully supports efforts "to maintain quality and minimise the risks to patient safety at this time".

Read more: Consultant vacancies 'nearly twice as high' as official statistics suggest 

However, she stressed that "short-term decisions" to ease winter pressures were being "prioritised at the expense of the professional requirements of doctors in training".

This was a problem particularly in relation to surgical specialties, she said, adding that the tactics risked exacerbating consultant shortages in future if young medics take longer to accrue the required training hours to qualify in their chosen field.

In a letter to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, Prof Taylor said: "We remain concerned that while understandably the primary focus for this work has been to address the short term issues of demand for NHS services, there are potential unintended consequences of such an approach, of which we should be cognisant.

"Our College believes that plans to alleviate winter pressures should not be prioritised at the expense of the professional requirements of doctors in training.

"At this time of mounting workforce pressures, we are concerned that short-term decisions may have an adverse effect on training, and therefore on the long-term expansion of consultant numbers.

"Our College is aware of situations where the training period for doctors in training, particularly in surgical specialties, has been unilaterally extended as a result of local winter planning arrangements.

"This is of particular concern, in that such action will have a tangible impact on future consultant numbers at a time when the health service is already facing consultant shortages in a number of specialties."

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After graduating from medical school, junior doctors are required to complete two 'foundation' years working in hospitals before choosing whether to train as a GP or a consultant.

There are currently 5810 doctors-in-training in Scotland.

In her letter, Prof Taylor stressed that clinical supervisors "must recognise the lower levels of experience and expertise that trainees may have if working outside their usual specialty".

She added that a junior doctor being deployed outwith their field "must receive due recognition for their work in a form that can be included in their training portfolios".

Latest figures for NHS Scotland show that consultant numbers are up 3% year-on-year and 51% since 2007, to 5485.

However, there were also 393 vacant posts - including 258 which had been empty for more than six months.

BMA Scotland recently warned that hundreds more vacant posts are hidden from official statistics - for example, if a health board delays a decision to advertise the job.

Read more: Suspending all elective operations in January and February 'could ease winter pressures on NHS'

Lewis Hughes, chair of BMA Scotland junior doctors committee said: “Of course, safety must be the priority, but in an overstretched system like this, where there are simply not enough doctors to deliver high quality care, then training opportunities can be among the first things sacrificed as a result.

"This has not only has a short term impact on the doctor involved, but as the college warn, it will also have a knock on effect on future consultant numbers – where vacancies are already far too high.

"It will also mean fewer clinics, less ability to deliver routine operations and therefore longer waiting lists.”

It comes weeks after a report by the General Medical Council (GMC) found that 30% of consultants in charge of training junior doctors said they were often too busy to devote the time allocated to them as a trainer specifically for that purpose.

A GMC spokeswoman said: "Time for training must be protected; it is too often at the mercy of gaps in rotas and pressures that divert resources elsewhere.

"We know employers are working hard to cope with increased demand but it’s important that staffing solutions do not compromise the learning and development doctors need to provide a high standard of care throughout their careers."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We expect all NHS Boards to ensure that training and development opportunities for doctors in training remain protected at all times, and that they have access to opportunities that allow them to gain the skills and experience they need to become our consultants and GPs of the future.

"Training can take place at any time of the day and in many settings, and it is important that our doctors in training fully experience the demands of working in frontline healthcare, under appropriate senior medical supervision.

"As well as formal training, staff working in the health service over winter will develop their skills further. We would like to thank staff across the NHS for their hard work and support during this busy period.”