‘Ground-breaking’ legislation to ensure health and social care services are sufficiently staffed will finally be fully implemented five years after the act was passed.

Scottish ministers have announced a 21-month programme of work which will see the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act in force by April 2024.

The announcement comes weeks after a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report found ministers were breaching the law by allowing the enlisting of students to fill gaps in nursing cover.

Almost 9 in 10 nursing staff surveyed by the professional organisation and nursing trade union reported that staffing levels on their last shift were not sufficient to meet the needs of patients. 

Passed initially in summer 2019, implementation of the act - the first legislation in the UK to set out requirements for safe staffing across both health and care services – was delayed due to covid-19.

Chair of RCN Scotland, Julie Lamberth, said the organisation welcomed the timetable announcement but emphasised that the legislation alone will not be enough to tackle staffing issues in the sector:

“RCN members’ campaigning heavily influenced and shaped this legislation. We could see the importance of getting this right for patients and care home residents and for the wellbeing of the workforce.  

“It is disappointing that it has taken so long for the Scottish government to commit to implementation. And while we would like to see the act implemented sooner, nursing staff will be pleased to now have a clear timetable.

“This legislation alone will not fix the nursing workforce crisis, it needs to sit alongside fair pay and improved terms, conditions and culture to ensure we can recruit and retain the nursing workforce Scotland needs.”

The safe staffing act will place a statutory duty on health and social care providers to ensure sufficient staffing levels for patient care, and will strengthen rights of staff who have concerns about staffing levels.

It also will require the Scottish government to annually report on what they are doing to ensure sufficient staffing levels.

Eileen McKenna, the RCN’s Associate Director for Nursing, Policy and Professional Practice, said:

“While it has taken longer than we would have liked to get to this point, and the timetable set out for implementation is lengthy, we are looking forward to engaging with Scottish government on the development of the guidance to support the legislation and through the testing and evaluation that will follow.

“We will focus on making sure that this ground-breaking and vital law works to deliver safe and effective care for patients and residents and improved working conditions for our members.”

Nicole Sturgeon told MSPs at First Minister’s Questions last month that the government had begun working with NHS boards “to ensure that the legislation is fully implemented in a safe and sustainable way”.

Paul O’Kane, mental wellbeing and social care spokesperson for the Scottish Labour party, told the health secretary later that week that nursing and midwifery staffing gaps had been normalised which is taking its toll on the mental and physical health of the workforce.

Announcing the timetable for implementation of the safe staffing bill, Health and Social Care Secretary Humza Yousaf said:

“This legislation will mean that the right people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time, ensuring the best outcomes for patients and service users.

“The provisions in the act will promote safe and appropriate staffing across our NHS and social care services and in turn improve patient experience.

“Measures set out in the Act will support an open and honest culture, where workers are engaged in relevant processes and informed about decisions relating to staffing.

“This will be a key feature of our efforts to get the NHS back to full recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic, and build on existing work to increase recruitment and promote staff wellbeing

“We are absolutely committed to engagement with trade unions and employers in relation to producing the necessary guidance before full implementation of the Act’s provisions."

 

Read more: RCN: Patients and staff suffering due to shortages; Safe staffing ’not a priority’ as funding frozen; “More questions than answers” in workforce plan

 

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