Urgent action needed to ensure Scotland has enough nurses, warns RCN
Scottish ministers have been warned “urgent action” is needed to ensure there are enough registered nurses to provide “safe and effective care” for patients.
The Royal College of Nursing made the plea in a new report which warned it would take the NHS in Scotland years to recover from the impact of the coronavirus.
The nursing workforce in Scotland report also warned of the toll that working through the pandemic had had on frontline workers.
There is an “increasing incidence of moral distress” being experienced by nurses as a consequence of working through the crisis, with the RCN saying it is “concerned about the health and wellbeing of our members and their ability to safely and sustainably provide care”.
It comes after recent figures revealed vacancies for nursing and midwifery in Scotland had soared to a record high, with almost 6,700 posts unfilled at the end of last year
And the RCN report made clear: “There are simply not enough nursing staff to provide the care our population needs.”
However, it stressed this was not a new phenomenon, saying: “The pressure on the nursing workforce has been rising for many years as a result of the increasing demand for services – whether in our care homes or communities or hospitals.
“The impact this is having on our members is a situation about which the RCN has been gravely concerned for some time – and well before the pandemic hit.”
Working under the “sustained heightened pressure” of the coronavirus crisis for the past two years “is having a significant impact on the physical and mental health of staff,” the report said.
The RCN is now recommending the Scottish Government and employers must ensure workforce planning across health and social care is fit for purpose.
It also called for “fair pay, good employment terms and safe working conditions for all registered nurses and nursing support workers wherever they work”.
And the report stressed: “The Scottish Government must increase investment in health and care services to enable providers to employ more registered nurses, achieve and maintain safe staffing levels and ensure nursing teams have the correct skill mix.”
Speaking about the impact of Covid, the report said that “recovery from the pandemic will take years” as it made clear that “the fundamental issues of an under-resourced nursing workforce” need to be “tackled head on”.
The RCN stated: “Nursing staff in Scotland are feeling under enormous pressure at work and struggling to provide the level of care they would like to, and the RCN is increasingly concerned about the health and wellbeing of our members and the wider nursing workforce.
“Workforce shortages were having a major impact on staff morale, physical and mental wellbeing and patient safety before the pandemic.
“The impact of the pandemic has only increased the damaging effects of continually working under the serious pressure staff shortages bring.”
Commenting on the report, Scottish Labour health spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said: “The verdict of front-line nurses and the organisations that represent them is clear – the Scottish Government has entirely failed to tackle our nursing staffing crisis.
“Our NHS is under phenomenal pressure but this SNP Government has failed time and time again to ensure that we have enough nursing staff to weather the storm.”
Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Alex McMahon, pledged the Scottish Government would consider the report’s recommendations carefully.
He praised the “hardworking and compassionate health and social care staff” who “have been on the front line of patient care through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic”.
Prof McMahon added: “While we have seen continued growth in our NHS and social care workforce over the past decade, we need more than sheer numbers alone as we continue to care for patients and plan for the future.
“NHS Scotland’s workforce stands record high levels with figures this month showing more than 155,000 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff working in the service.
“Our National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care is designed to embed a new, long-term approach, stressing the need to plan, attract, train, employ and nurture staff.
“It commits to understanding the change in demand for services as we recover, rebuild and transform our health service, and how we can achieve a more sustainable, skilled workforce which makes careers in health and social care – at all levels – more attractive.”
Meanwhile, health boards are being supported to increase the number of nurses, including with a “nationally co-ordinated recruitment campaign for nurses which is currently ongoing,” he said.