THE number of nursing and midwifery jobs lying empty in the Scottish NHS for three months or more has jumped by almost two-thirds to more than 800 during the past year.
The publication of the official figures has led to demands that the Scottish Government explain how it plans to fill the vacancies and prevent them affecting patients.
It comes just a week after another set of statistics showed there had been a huge surge in long-term vacancies for doctor, nurse and midwife posts despite record NHS staffing levels.
Now Holyrood’s Health and Sport Committee has written to Health Secretary Shona Robison asking her to explain the rising vacancies and barriers to recruitment in the NHS.
The number of NHS workers is growing but the number of vacancies is also rising, by 9.3 per cent for nurses and midwives between September 2015 and September 2016, leaving 2,634.5 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts unfilled. The number of these posts vacant for three months or more rose by 64.8 per cent from 500 to 823.8.
MSPs on the committee have already held an inquiry into the high vacancy rates for consultants, nursing staff and allied health professionals such as radiographers, pharmacists and social care staff.
The letter to Ms Robison states one of the “main barriers” to recruiting and retaining NHS staff is the “lack of supply” of new graduates and recruits.
She also asks if the current intake figures for government- controlled subjects –medicine, dentistry, nursing and midwifery – is “adequate”, and if it would help if the government took control over intake figures for more health jobs.
Ms Robison is also asked to outline how Brexit is being factored into health and social care workforce planning, including if all EU nationals were repatriated, as the committee heard this would have a “devastating” impact on the sector.
The committee convener, Labour’s Neil Findlay, said: “Ensuring we have the right number of doctors, nurses and carers and other health professionals to look after the population is not an exact science.
“However, we would have expected some positive progress.
“Much attention has been given to concern around GP recruitment, however we heard of high vacancy rates for various health professionals.
“We are asking the Scottish Government what immediate steps it is taking to prevent this impacting on patient care.”
Ms Robison said earlier this week NHS staffing levels are at a “record high” and the Scottish Government is “committed” to preparing the NHS workforce for the future.
Last week, workforce statistics showed the total headcount for staff in hospitals and community healthcare had risen by more than 1,000 over the past year to 161,806.
Although the figure included a record number of medical consultants, 5,540 across NHS Scotland, some posts are becoming increasingly difficult to fill.
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