SCOTLAND is facing a care crisis after it emerged that stress was forcing many nurses and midwives to quit the profession by their 40th birthday and there is not enough new blood staying in the NHS.

 

Nurses and midwives are simply abandoning the job well below retirement age over issues including low pay and poor working conditions north of the border, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

 

The representative body said the number of nurses and midwives registering to work in Scotland has now fallen for the third year in a row and there are 1,200 fewer registered in March of this year than in 2014.

 

UK-wide the number departing has risen by 51 per cent in just four years.

 

Jackie Smith, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: "At a time of increased pressure on the healthcare workforce to deliver quality patient care, we hope our data will provide evidence to support government and employers to look in detail at how they can reverse this trend.

 

“Nursing and midwifery are widely acknowledged to be ageing professions, with significant numbers on the register coming up to retirement age.

 

"While there’s no denying this is true, our figures show that people below retirement age are leaving in increasing numbers.”

 

Pressure of work was one reason cited by Norman Provan, associate director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland.

 

He said: "These figures are a stark warning that nurses have put up with too much for too long.

 

"The stress on nursing staff is enormous.

 

"They are constantly being asked to do more with less, and that is having an impact on morale and people's decisions about their career.

 

"Pay is a factor.

 

"Nursing staff have had a pay freeze since 2010, and are now around 14 per cent worse off in real terms.

 

"Staff have had enough of struggling to make ends meet, and some are leaving the profession to work elsewhere.

 

"For some time RCN has warned about the number of nurses nearing retirement age, particularly amongst those providing vital services in Scotland's communities.

 

"Pension changes mean that nursing staff nearing retirement age are opting to leave early, and Scotland has fewer students applying to nursing courses."

 

Mary Ross-Davie, of the Royal College of Midwives said: "We need to make sure we are not just making midwifery an attractive career to choose and to study but it's an attractive career to stay in."

 

Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour health spokesman, said: "Nicola Sturgeon was wrong to cut training places for nurses and midwives as Health Secretary, and our NHS continues to feel the effects of that short sighted decision today."

 

Shona Robison, Scottish Health Secretary, said: "Under this government, NHS staff numbers have risen to a record high level including over 2,700 additional qualified nurses and midwives.

 

"Nursing and midwifery is by far the largest staff group in the NHS. There is a 4.7 per cent increase in trainee nurses and midwives this year - a fifth successive rise - and we have committed to deliver around 2,600 additional nursing and midwifery training places by the end of this parliament.

 

"Most of those who train in Scotland choose to stay and work here.

 

"NHS nurses in Scotland are the highest paid in the UK, with those in the main grade (Band 5) being up to £312 per year better off than their counterparts in NHS England."