Nursing and midwifery vacancies in NHS Scotland rise by 60% in six months

Vacancies for nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Scotland have increased by 60% since the end of last year, “hugely troubling” new figures revealed.

Official data showed that as of June 30 2025 the NHS had a total of 3,227.3 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts for nurses and midwives that were unfilled.

That total is up from 2,015.4 WTE at the end of December last year.

At the same time the data showed that medical and dental vacancies in the NHS were up by almost a quarter.

These rose from 378.4 WTE on December 31 2024 to 468.7 WTE six months later – an increase of 23.8%.

Vacancies for allied health professionals – such as physiotherapists, dieticians, occupational therapists and others – rose by 39% over the same period.

There were a total of 606.9 WTE posts for such staff unfilled at the end of June 2025, up from 435.6 WTE on the last day of 2024.

The same figures showed that the overall number of staff working for Scotland’s NHS had fallen slightly over the past three months.

As of June 30 NHS Scotland employed a total of 160,373.3 WTE staff, with this down by 0.6% over the quarter.

The workforce total was however 8.9% higher than it was five years ago, and up by 16.7% over the decade.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex-Cole Hamilton branded the rise in nursing and midwifery vacancies “hugely troubling”, adding that the increase “stems all the way back to Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP cutting training places and claiming that was ‘sensible’”.

Mr Cole-Hamilton added: “In the years that followed, staff have been run ragged. Exhausted and demoralised, they are struggling to provide the high-quality care patients need, and many are reaching for the door.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said that the “shocking” statistics “lay bare the SNP’s woefully inadequate workforce planning”.

The Tory added: “It’s little wonder A&E waiting times are dangerously high and operations are being cancelled when our NHS has such a huge shortfall in the number of nurses needed.”

However, Health Secretary Neil Gray welcomed the increase in the the overall NHS workforce, with this total up by 0.2% over the year to June 2025.

Mr Gray said: “Our workforce is the greatest asset of the National Health Service, and I remain extremely grateful for the daily contribution they make to providing high quality services to patients across Scotland.”

According to the latest statistics, NHS Scotland employed 67,326 WTE nursing and midwifery staff as of June 30 2025, along with 6,103.8 WTE consultants and 14,096.3 WTE allied health professionals.