NHS Grampian paid out £1.6million in overtime to consultants last year – compared to nothing two years ago.
The health board recorded the greatest increase in overtime payments to consultants across the country.
Last night MSPs said the increase was proof NHS Grampian was being “stretched to the limit” by the Scottish Government.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said the number of consultants working the NHS was at a “record high level”.
But Dr Nikki Thompson, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish Consultant Committee, insisted the problem was down to a lack of doctors being recruited.
She said: “The sheer scale of overtime necessary reflects the major recruitment and retention problems that are affecting the NHS in Scotland.
“High vacancy levels increase pressure on services and colleagues are having to work harder and longer to try to fill the gaps, making it even more challenging to attract staff to commit to working here.
“It is simply not sustainable.”
Across the country, a total of £20million was paid in overtime – including one consultant in Lanarkshire who received £136,000 in additional pay.
North East Conservative MSP Ross Thomson said: “This sudden increase in payments for additional work by consultants appears to be directly related to the well-documented staffing problems at NHS Grampian.
“This is simply another example of a health service that is being stretched to the limit under the watch of the SNP.”
Scottish Labour’s health spokesman Anas Sarwar agreed, while the Liberal Democrats’ Alex Cole-Hamilton branded the figures “eye-watering”.
Mr Sarwar said: “The SNP undervalue our staff and underfund our health boards leaving our hospitals under intolerable pressure and it is patients who lose out.
“This has to change and quick.”
Ms Robison said her government was working to reduce the role of agency staff in NHS Scotland.
She added: “NHS consultant numbers have increased by almost 43% under this Government to a record high level – this spend on overtime represents a tiny percentage of the overall spend on consultants.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “In common with other NHS Boards, we are required to maintain health service provision for its respective population.
“On occasions where there are vacancies or there is a requirement to increase capacity to meet demand pressures, consultants have worked additional hours for which they are entitled to payment in line with national terms and conditions.
“The value of these payments has increased in recent years due to demand pressures, particularly within planned elective care.”
