THE crisis in the health service deepened yesterday after new figures revealed that 40 per cent of doctors who train in Scotland leave to work elsewhere before they qualify.

According to official statistics, only 62 per cent of medical students studying at Scottish universities in 2002 were still employed by NHS Scotland last year. Although the phenomenon is partly explained by the fact that Scotland attracts medical students from England, two reports published earlier this year warned of an exodus of junior doctors.

A Scottish Executive-commissioned study by Sir John Temple, a former president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, found too many doctors were being lost to Scotland. And a review by Sir Kenneth Calman, a former chief medical officer for Scotland, called on Scotland’s medical schools to train 100 more students a year to plug the shortfall.

The latest figures highlight growing concern within the medical profession about the ability of the health service in Scotland to retain vital staff.

The scale of shortages was highlighted yesterday when it emerged that a key Executive pledge to create 600 new medical posts by 2006 looked almost certain to fall short.

And on Tuesday, the Royal College of Nursing warned that the country faced a serious shortage of nurses because so many were leaving to take up more lucrative contracts elsewhere in the UK and abroad.

The revelations about medical students prompted the British Medical Association to call for urgent action to make the profession more attractive to graduates.

And opposition politicians said the Executive should take urgent steps to ensure newly qualified doctors were encouraged to stay in Scotland.

A spokeswoman for BMA Scotland said: “There needs to be much more done to encourage graduates to live and work in Scotland once they complete their studies.

“There is nothing wrong with people going to England or overseas to gain experience, but we want them ultimately to come back to Scotland.

“We want to see a much more flexible approach to make a career with NHS Scotland more attractive, by allowing those with families to work part-time and by giving people the opportunities to develop specialities.”

Bristow Muldoon, a Labour MSP who has campaigned on health issues, said the number of junior doctors leaving was “far too high”.

“We must find ways to encourage doctors who train in Scotland to stay on and practise here, to address the shortfalls which are causing so many problems in the NHS,” he said.

In his report on staff retention in the NHS, Sir John highlighted a number of reasons for medical students leaving Scotland.

Some only ever intended to train in Scotland, while others faced a lack of suitable posts within a doctor’s speciality, or a shortage of posts which offered opportunities for immediate promotion.

Sir John concluded that, in many cases, aspirations were best served by leaving, a problem compounded by the fact that many students were headhunted by other NHS employers elsewhere in the UK.

An Executive spokeswoman said: “We are committed to recruiting and retaining key medical staff in Scotland and ensuring high-quality, appropriate medical training and education is available.”