The Interim Director of RCN Scotland Colin Poolman is urging the Scottish government to address “significant issues” facing the nursing workforce.

Speaking at Scotland’s Policy Conference on the ‘next steps for the health and care workforce in Scotland’ ahead of discussions on strike action for nurses, Mr Poolman highlighted the stark conclusions from the Nursing Workforce Report published this March, adding that staffing pressures and experiences have worsened recently:

“Our report concluded that urgent action is needed to safeguard the future of the nursing workforce across health and social care. We know the situation has worsened since then; that nursing is under – with other professions – extreme pressure, and we see that, day in, day out.”

He added that many – if not all – of the challenges being experienced by the nursing workforce are faced across all health and social care professionals and, similarly, many of the solutions needed will be the same.

Reflecting earlier sessions in the seminar, Mr Poolman concurred with other speakers that better conditions and working spaces, and more resources, are vital to supporting staff. However, he said:

“All of these are absolutely, incredibly important and right now we need to put all of our efforts into addressing the workforce crisis. What’s the point of having new rest facilities, canteens being reopened and the provisional facilities such as water stations, when staff levels are so low that people simply cannot take a break?”

Responding to Scottish government policies introduced to empower staff to raise concerns regarding staffing levels, he went on to question the effectiveness of such policies when there are not enough people to recruit.

To encourage people to join the nursing profession, he said it’s important to look at workforce modelling and provide accelerated and prolonged investment in education, to aid training and upskilling for nursing and the wider workforce.

However, Mr Poolman added that currently the pressures on the workforce are so intense that staff are choosing to leave and “take their valuable skills, experience and passion for caring elsewhere.” This response, the uptick in departures from the NHS Scotland nursing profession is underpinned by the poor staffing levels and the need for fair pay.

In June this year, healthandcare.scot reported on the RCN survey finding that 90% of the nursing staff  reported levels being so low that they were not able to meet patient needs on their last shift. At the time, Julie Lamberth, Chair of RCN Scotland Board, said:

“Urgent action is needed to protect patient safety, address staff shortages and demonstrate that the nursing workforce is valued as a safety critical profession.”

Echoing his colleague, Mr Poolman told conference attendees that staff are now under such pressure and stress in work that they are seeking psychological interventions:

“That shouldn’t be the case. But it is the case and it’s a fact current pressures are causing harm which is something that none of us find acceptable.”

“We listened to the Cabinet Secretary this morning speak about the need to address the patient backlogs, the plans for the National Treatment Centres. As you may expect from me – what I would say is here’s our reality check: we are far away from being about to do all of these things because of our workforce.”

Focused action is needed he said to make nursing and healthcare professions attractive, with over 6,200 nursing and midwifery vacancies unfilled in NHS Scotland and an 11% vacancy rate in adult care homes. Mr Poolman urged the Scottish government to make a meaningful offer in negotiations for the NHS pay increases.

He said that staff are saying “enough is enough” and more support is needed, especially now as they face the additional pressures brought about by the cost-of-living crisis:

“Experienced nurses tell us that in all their years in nursing, things have never been as bad as they are now. Staff need to see light at the end of the tunnel, they need to know that things are going to improve.

“Nursing staff provide care from pre-birth to end of life. That means they care for the entire population of Scotland, for every one of us here today, for our families and loved ones. Let’s work together to get this right.”

Mr Poolman warned that if no action is taken going forward, he fears for the future of nursing – and the services reliant on nursing staff – in Scotland and the UK.

Issuing a call to action, he added:

“Let’s support the workforce by ensuring there are the right number of staff, in the right places at the right time. We can do this if we fix workforce planning and ensure safe staffing levels are the norm so that staff feel able to provide the level of care they would like.

“Fair pay that recognises nursing staff’s safety critical role is an essential building block, so that we continue to attract people into nursing and retain the excellent staff we have.”

Following an “overwhelming rejection” of the Scottish government’s previous pay off, on the 15^th of September RCN Scotland will begin to ballot members on whether to go forward with industrial strike action.

Read more: Staff shortage concerns in latest MWC reviews; RCN: treating patients in corridors ‘scandalous'; Move to 2-1 placements, staff urge

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