The level of specialty training intake between 2011 and 2015 means 5% of medical graduates are expected not to secure a foundation training place in Scotland, BMA Scotland warned.

The concerns were raised in a manifesto outlining what the BMA believes the political parties’ priorities for health should be ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in 2011.

The manifesto says 21% of those on the foundation programme will not progress further in Scotland.

‘These doctors will be lost completely from the Scottish medical workforce as they will not be qualified to work in other medical posts,’ it warns.

BMA Scotland also called on the country’s political parties to offer GPs a leadership role in planning and developing local NHS services.

The manifesto, Priorities for Health called for doctors and patients need to be at the heart of decision-making.

It also called for a review of the Community Health Partnerships, which were established with the aim of improving the delivery of health and social care in the community.

But Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of BMA Scotland, was clear that he did not want Scotland to mirror the plans in England to hand GPs real budgets and commissioning responsibility.

He said: ‘It’s about taking the best of what’s happening in England and adapting it to the environment in Scotland.’