Posted 08 September 2022 - 12:05
Posted 08 September 2022 - 12:05
News
Nurses in Scotland being ‘pushed to the exits’, warns MSP
Call for urgent action on workforce planning, staffing pressures and poor pay, as NHS Scotland figures show nursing vacancies have jumped by 24% in a year
Call for urgent action on workforce planning, staffing pressures and poor pay, as NHS Scotland figures show nursing vacancies have jumped by 24% in a year
Scottish nurses are being ‘pushed towards the exit’, an MSP has said, as new figures show vacancy numbers rocketed by almost a quarter in the past year.
Figures published by NHS Scotland on Tuesday show vacancies in the nursing workforce rose from 4,845 to 6,010 in the year to July 2022 – a 24% jump.
Call to take action and secure the workforce the NHS needs
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called on the SNP health secretary for Scotland Humza Yousaf to take urgent action to ‘secure the workforce’ and stop nurses leaving the NHS.
‘Nurses and midwives are feeling burnt out and many are being pushed towards the exit,’ said the MSP for Edinburgh Western. ‘The lack of support is taking its toll. For the past year, the health secretary has been insisting that the service will do even more, despite refusing to invest in proper workforce planning.
‘Nurses and midwives need new hope. It’s time for urgent action to secure the workforce that the NHS needs to flourish.’
Pay nurses fairly to keep them in the job
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that NHS staffing levels remain ‘historically high’, up 2% from last year after ‘ten consecutive years of increases’.
But RCN Scotland interim director Colin Poolman said members are saying ‘enough is enough’, and that nurses needed to be paid fairly to keep them in the job.
‘Every day they are seeing patient care compromised because there simply aren’t enough nursing staff to go round. Patients and staff are suffering,’ he said.
‘They are having to cope with the burden of knowing they haven’t been able to do their best while worrying about how they can heat their homes, feed their families and find the money to travel to work. Many simply can’t afford to be a nurse any longer.’
Nurse strike ballots in all four UK countries
Scotland’s figures echo those of neighbouring England, with recent data published by NHS Digital showing there are 46,828 nursing vacancies in the NHS in England, an increase of 8,014 in a year.
Next week RCN Scotland will ballot members on industrial action, after they rejected a 5% pay offer. Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be balloted over their pay offer at the same time.
If members support strike action, as urged by the college, it will be the first-ever strike by RCN members in Scotland, Wales or England. RCN members went on strike for the first time in 2019.
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