Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett has backed North East nurses and social care workers following research that shows risks of harm are increasing during their shifts.
The Royal College of Nursing’s “Last Shift” survey asked more than 1,400 nursing staff in the Scottish NHS and health and social care about their experiences on their most recent shift.
Just 8% of respondents said staffing was at the right level for all of a patient’s needs to be met, and 76% said the situation of limited time and resources is now forcing them to prioritise care.
Nursing staff across Scotland report the demands of care are increasing, while registered nurse staffing continues to fall short of the level required to provide it.
Having too few registered nurses and nursing support workers on shift also impacts staff wellbeing, with 80% feeling emotionally exhausted by the end of their last shift.
The RCN reports one community mental health nurse said: “It is getting harder and harder to provide excellent mental health care in the community… I never look forward to coming into work, continuously feel anxious and have poor sleep due to worrying about work the next day. I am considering leaving nursing altogether due to significant pressures placed on me.”
Another nurse in acute services said: “Working in a sustained high-stress environment where there is no capacity buffer is not a safe or sustainable model of care. It increases the likelihood of missed care, delayed interventions, and moral distress among staff who are unable to provide the standard of care they are trained to deliver.”
Scottish Conservative Mr Burnett said NHS Grampian and Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership are suffering from a “double whammy” of consistent Scottish Government underfunding, alongside a reduction in staff recruitment.
He said:
“This report lays bare the reality that too many nurses and care staff are working in unacceptable conditions, unable to give patients the full standard of care they are trained to deliver.
“In areas like Aberdeenshire, services are facing a double whammy of chronic underfunding alongside persistent workforce planning failures over two decades at Scottish Government level.
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“That pressure inevitably has consequences.
“Scotland’s health service has been left in permanent crisis mode after years of SNP mismanagement.
“I will stand up for NHS Grampian nurses and those working in social care by taking this to Angela Constance, Neil Gray’s replacement as SNP health secretary. More of the same cannot stand.”
