Scots patients are being put at risk due to nursing staffing shortages across the NHS, a top union official will warn today.
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), will address a conference in Glasgow where she will spell out the stresses faced by frontline health workers.
It comes as a new report from the RCN found that of 20,000 responses received, more than eight in 10 nurses reported staffing levels on their last shift having not been sufficient enough to meet the needs of patients.
Cullen is expected to call for action over the shortages, telling RCN members that it is not “normal to not have enough staff to meet the needs of patients”.
She will say: “Our new report lays bare the state of health and care services across the UK. It shows the shortages that force you to go even more than the extra mile and that, when the shortages are greatest, you are forced to leave patient care undone.
"Don’t ever think that it is normal to not have enough staff to meet the needs of patients. It is not. Today, members are letting the full truth be known – nursing is saying loud and clear that enough is enough."
It also found that only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses – a fall from 42% in 2020 and 45% back in 2017.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said nursing staff had been neglected by the Scottish Government.
Baillie said: “Despite being in power for 15 years, this SNP Government has slashed bed numbers, failed to tackle delayed discharge and entirely failed our nursing profession.
"There are currently 6,600 nursing vacancies in our NHS – all while patients go without vital treatment.
"Our nursing staff work tirelessly on the frontline of our NHS but they have been failed by the SNP for 15 years.
"Staff are overworked, underpaid, and safe staffing legislation, passed unanimously by the parliament in 2019, has still not been implemented.
"If action is not taken now to support nursing staff and deliver safe staffing levels then further lives will be risked."
Alex Cole-Hamilton said staff and patients "are being taken for granted".
The Scottish Lib Dem leader added: "Staff are working around the clock because the Scottish Government’s botched workforce planning has left so many departments dreadfully short. The NHS is being overwhelmed.
"Everyone needs SNP/Green ministers to be focused on what really matters right now.
"Instead, they are devoting tens of millions of pounds to a referendum and putting top officials to work on independence.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Growing our workforce is crucial and that’s why we have steadily increased places on undergraduate nursing and midwifery courses over 10 consecutive years – doubling the number of new intake students in the last decade.
"We have recruited more than 1,000 additional healthcare support staff and almost 200 registered nurses from overseas to help address the unprecedented challenges facing the NHS.
"The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting NHS staff, and this year we have made £12 million available to support workforce wellbeing. We will continue to engage with our staff to ensure they get the necessary support they need."
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