'How do we fix the broken system' Scots have their say on NHS nurse staffing crisis
dailyrecord.co.ukScottish nurses are fighting for improved pay and conditions. It comes as NHS staff claim there are crippling nurse and facility shortages, and some staff have resorted to food banks.
A damning Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report, published in in June, found only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses in Scotland.
It also found more than eight in 10 nurses reported staffing levels on their last shift having not been sufficient enough to meet the needs of patients.In June we reported at least five wards at Scotland’s showpiece hospital - Queen Elizabeth University Hospital - were forced to operate with just a single registered nurse on duty as the NHS crisis deepens.READ MORE: Five wards left with single nurse at crisis-hit Queen Elizabeth University HospitalA hospital insider said: “If something is not done to address this soon, patients will die and the nurse left alone in charge of 30 patients will be the scapegoat. “This is not just happening within the QEUH, it is a problem across hospitals throughout Glasgow, and probably the rest of Scotland.”GMB Scotland organiser Karen Leonard said the conditions staff were being forced to endure at QMUH were ”unacceptable to their health and welfare, and a clear risk to patient safety”.In the last month nurses from around Scotland have echoed the same concerns - Carstairs asking retired staff to come back to work amid the staffing crisis, a nurse writing to Nicola Sturgeon claiming care homes were 'bullied' into taking Covid patients, and reports NHS staff are using food banks.Are the Scottish Government and NHS doing enough to address shortages, support and compensate nurses?
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