DOCTORS in Scotland are "under pressure like never before" amid shortfalls in funding and rising vacancies, a leading medic has warned.

Dr Peter Bennie, chairman of doctors' trade union BMA Scotland, said services are deteriorating and patients are "suffering" because NHS resources cannot cope with growing demand.

He also hit out at the focus on "arbitrary targets".

Read more: Target setting and blame culture 'distorting' patient care

Dr Bennie is set to address around 200 members today in Glasgow at the first ever Scottish BMA conference for all branches of the profession.

He said: “Doctors in the Scottish NHS take huge pride in their work, and in what we achieve for patients. But our conference comes at a critical time, when all parts of the profession are under pressure like never before.

“Numerous issues are impacting on our ability to do our jobs. Crucially, while there have been increases in both finances and workforce, this is simply not keeping pace with demand.

"Doctors struggle with the implications of this on a daily basis, with services deteriorating, patients suffering as a result, and more pressure being put on already overworked staff."

Although a record £13.1 billion will be spent on health services in Scotland this year, investment in the NHS across the UK as a whole has lagged well behind inflation for the past decade.

Real terms annual increases of around one per cent since 2009 compare to an average of around four per cent a year during the first 60 years of the NHS.

Read more: Warning Brexit will leave NHS Scotland 'in ruins'

Similarly, despite record numbers of consultants, nurses and other healthcare staff, the vacancy rate is also higher than ever for some specialisms including clinical radiology and general psychiatry where more than one in ten posts are unfilled.

An ageing population and more people living longer with multiple chronic conditions are among the factors putting the health service under strain.

Dr Bennie said he was also "deeply concerned" about the implications for the medical profession of the landmark Bawa-Garba legal case.

Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a trainee paediatric consultant at Leicester Royal Infirmary, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and struck off the medical register in January as a result of mistakes which led to the death of six-year-old patient Jack Adcock in 2011.

Read more: Historic medical blunders leading to rising damages payments 

She has since been granted leave to appeal after her legal team argued that staff shortages meant Dr Bawa-Garba, who had just returned from maternity leave, was left in sole charge of the emergency department and acute children’s assessment unit with no senior consultant.

An IT failure also led to delays in obtaining test results.

The ruling sparked a backlash from the medical profession, with thousands of doctors signing a letter warning that such career-ending punishments will make NHS staff more likely to cover up mistakes in future.

Dr Bennie said: "The errors which led to the tragic death of a young, vulnerable patient have been attributed unfairly to an individual doctor and nurse, failing to take into account they were working within an underfunded and understaffed system. This sets a precedent which places an unacceptable burden on clinical staff to prop up a system under immense pressure."

The conference will also hear from the former chief medical officer for Scotland, Sir Harry Burns, and Baroness Ilora Finlay, former president of the BMA and Royal Society of Medicine.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are providing record funding to Scotland’s NHS, and recently announced further investment of more than £350 million in Scotland’s frontline health boards, including additional investment in service reform and improvement of £175 million.

"NHS staff numbers are also at historically high levels, up by over 13,000 under this government, with more doctors, nursing and midwifery staff now delivering care for the people of Scotland.

“We have already announced a further 55 undergraduate medical training places through the new Scottish Graduate Medical School, and have created an additional 140 medical training places since 2017, ensuring supply continues to meet demand and help support the future consultant and GP workforce.”