A significant rise in NHS Nursing and Midwifery vacancies as well as a record number of unfulfilled nursing posts across NHS Fife is of great concern.
Official statistics published yesterday show NHS Fife is facing 575 vacant nursing and midwifery posts, which is 13% of posts and a record high.
Across Scotland nearly 10% of all nursing and midwifery posts are vacant (a record high of 6,674), including nearly 4,500 Registered Nurse vacancies.
I raised the issue of nursing and midwifery vacancies directly with NHS Fife last December – at a time when there were 342 nursing and midwifery vacancies. This was also a record high at the time. Now that figure has jumped to 575 vacancies.
Our NHS is facing a perfect storm of staffing problems, and it needs direct action from the Scottish Government to address the problems of recruitment and retention.
Just last week a report from Audit Scotland concluded that staff vacancies were a risk to the recovery of services. The Royal College of Nursing have also pointed out that attempts by the Scottish Government to address unfilled posts so far are simply not working.
The RCN have also made clear that 6 in 10 of their members are thinking about or actively considering leaving their jobs, suggesting the vacancy figures are only going to get worse without urgent intervention.
The Scottish Government must come forward with new policies to improve recruitment and retention of staff as attempts to date are clearly not working. This must also be delivered with a commitment to implement the guarantee of safe staffing levels in health and care services as well as a fair pay rise for nursing staff working in all settings, especially in recognition of their invaluable contributions during the pandemic.
Statistics from NHS Education for Scotland: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics-publications/01-march-2022-workforce/dashboards/nhsscotland-workforce/?pageid=6429
