As the previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf is well versed in the scale of the crisis facing patients and staff. The fact that nursing strikes have been avoided in Scotland to date was mentioned throughout the SNP leadership campaign, but the letter highlights that the close vote in our recent ballot on the Scottish government’s NHS pay offer demonstrated our members’ continued frustration and concern about the nursing workforce crisis.
Much more is required for nursing staff to feel valued and in the letter we also call on the new First Minister to deliver his commitment to reform Agenda for Change. The framework must be modernised to recognise the clinical skills and expertise of nursing staff and further improvements to pay, terms and conditions are needed in the years ahead.
With over 4,000 registered nurse posts vacant in the NHS alone, we welcome the new Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and repeat our calls for its work to proceed as a matter of urgency, delivering funded, timely, meaningful and sustainable actions that make a positive difference for the nursing profession.
Ahead of implementation of Scotland’s safe staffing legislation next spring, we also highlight the urgent need to address the ongoing level of investment that will be required to tackle nursing vacancies and ensure that health and care providers can meet their safe staffing duties.
RCN Scotland is calling for a meeting with the new First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to discuss these issues as soon as possible.
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director said:
“The severe workforce challenges facing Scotland’s health and care services must be a top priority for the next First Minister. Whilst imminent strike action from Scotland’s nurses has been avoided, the chronic staff shortages and low morale are still very real.
“Over 4,000 registered nurses are missing from teams across Scotland, impacting on the safety and quality of patient care and putting even more pressure on staff who are already working extra unpaid hours to cover gaps and going home feeling that they are unable to provide the quality of care they want.
“The new First Minister must tackle this workforce crisis, prioritise the work of the new Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and live up to his promise to reform Agenda for Change and make nursing a career of choice once again.”
