SNP slammed over NHS as report warns nurses at 'BREAKING POINT'
GETTY 61% of nurses said they are too busy to give patients the level of care they would like
The findings of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) employment survey follow official figures last week showing Scotland’s NHS is short of more than 2,789 nurses. The college said many were facing severe hardship due to a wage cap, with three quarters of staff (74 per cent) feeling worse off than they did five years ago. Six in 10 (61 per cent) of nurses said they were too busy to give patients the level of care they would like. Four in ten (40 per cent) told researchers money worries caused them to lose sleep, while 36 per cent said they were looking for a new job.
GETTY 40% of nurses said money worries caused them to lose sleep
Given the prolonged pay freeze and soaring nursing vacancies left unfilled it is no surprise that the morale of nurses is plummeting Theresa Fyffe
The starting salary for a Scottish nurse in the main grade, Band 5, is £22,440 rising to £29,034 for those at the top of the scale. The RCN argues that the cap on pay increases means that in real terms they have suffered a 14 per cent cut since 2010. First Minster Sturgeon has promised to lift the 1 per cent public sector pay cap but has not revealed what the increase would be. Green co-convenor Patrick Harvie wants tax to go up to fund an inflation-based hike of at least three per cent to support Thursday’s Budget.
This would cost £10 million more than the SNP’s highest cash-raising option of £290 million. But RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said Finance Secretary Derek Mackay’s plans must include an “above inflation pay award”. She said: “Given the prolonged pay freeze and soaring nursing vacancies left unfilled it is no surprise that our survey highlights that the morale of nurses and health care support workers in our NHS is plummeting. “For too long the concerns of Scotland’s nursing teams have been ignored, and nurses have been suggesting they don’t have the resources to fulfil their jobs properly.
GETTY Scotland is short of more than 2,789 nurses, and 36% of nurses said they were looking for new jobs
“The survey’s findings should fire a warning shot across the bows, for the Scottish Government our nursing workforce is at breaking point.” Around 800 nurses took part in the RCN survey which also found almost two thirds (65 per cent) believed their job band or grade was inappropriate for the work they actually do. Sixty-eight per cent described nursing as a rewarding profession, but just 38 per cent would recommend it as a career. Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs described the results as “alarming” and added they “expose the challenges faced by hard-working NHS staff.”
He said: “The SNP is in sole charge of health, and has been for more than a decade. “It can’t blame anyone else for this situation, and should set out how it’s going to make life better for Scotland’s over-stretched nurses.” Anas Sarwar, for Scottish Labour, said: “This survey is utterly damning and confirms what Labour has been saying for some time - Scotland’s nurses are underpaid and undervalued under the SNP.” Green MSP Alison Johnstone said: “The Finance Secretary must listen to groups representing frontline workers such as RCN Scotland and back the basic principle that a pay rise for our public services is due and can be funded, not from cuts elsewhere, but from fairer taxation that protects low earners.”
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