Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, says there is “real appetite” among international healthcare workers to come to work in Scotland, as recent workforce statistics show nursing vacancies still exceed 6,000.

In a pre-recorded message to Scotland’s Policy Conference, Mr Yousaf recommitted to the targets outlined in the NHS recovery plan last year as he confirmed that “work is well underway to provide a healthy labour supply.” 

He acknowledged the importance of providing the right educational pathways and creating interest in working within health and social care services, adding that the government recently invested £300m to support staff and will continue to build from the workforce strategy which he says places “at its very heart” principles of fair work, staff wellbeing, training, and job satisfaction.

However, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon did not outline key NHS workforce committments in yesterday's statement on the Programme for Government.

Issues of sufficient staffing in the health and social care services was raised repeatedly by speakers at last week’s conference. Mr Colin Poolman, the Interim Director for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, stressed the need for urgent action to address high vacancy rates in the nursing workforce.

Responding to the Cabinet Secretary’s commitment to addressing patient backlogs and the plans for National Treatment Centres, Mr Poolman said that, while provision of additional resources and improved working spaces are incredibly important, the underlying staffing crisis requires action above all else:

“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?”

Mr Yousaf added that the government is investing £11m, over the next five years into new national and international recruitment efforts:

“It is so important that we recruit from elsewhere also as we know Scotland is a great place to work. I’m pleased to say we have the best NHS staff including any other parts of the UK.”

Supporting NHS boards to build capacity through “ambitious recruitment standards” and the continued development of local infrastructure for international recruitment is key to the workforce strategy, he said:

“I'm really pleased to see that from that some of the work we've done over the last year, there's a real appetite for people globally to come to Scotland to work because we have promised and committed – and I think, rightly so – an additional 1,500 staff to work right across those national treatment centres.”

He said that since setting a target in October 2021, offers of employment for almost 200 nurses from overseas have been signed, with a further 200 expected in the coming months.

However, Mr Poolman expressed concern about the current pressures and urged the government to review its workforce model and provide accelerated and continuous investment in education and training of staff.

Today’s statistics from NHS Scotland reveal a decrease across the workforce of 1.1% for the last quarter, despite a total increase of 11.7% over the past 5 years. Nursing vacancies still exceed 6,000, with the lowest increase of all recorded professions in filled posts over the last year.

Fair Work Pay

Scotland's programme for government commits to becoming 'a leading Fair Work nation' by 2025 but across the health and care sector, calls have come for staff pay rises with inflation.

Mr Poolman said ensuring the “right number of staff, in the right places at the right time” can be done with better workforce planning and funding to ensure safe staffing levels are the norm.

“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.”

Ahead of the Programme for Government, Mr Poolman said staff are “having to cope with the burden” of not being able to do their best for patients as well as “how they can heat their homes, feed their families and find the money to travel to work”, saying many can no longer afford to be a nurse.

Nurses will be asked whether they want to strike later this month, following an overwhelming rejection of the Scottish government’s pay offer.

Mr Yousaf said education standards among healthcare professionals must also increase, as well as increasing the number of medical school places and ensuring a more representative workforce:

“We want our workforce to truly represent the people that we are caring for. We are also reforming our medical training, ensuring our workforce is more agile, able to meet both predictable and unpredictable future demands.”

He explained that the government is looking to facilitate easier movement between specialities and offer more flexible career opportunities. Funded places onto degree programmes for nursing for this year have been increased by over 8.7% and Mr Yousaf said that there will be increased investment across a variety of training pathways.

The NHS Academy, launched in 2021 to facilitate accelerated training to address current workforce needs and increase capacity, was also highlighted by the Health Secretary.

Staff across the health and care sector remain concerned about pressures, with staff shortages reported as central to the issues highlighted in the recent ward reviews by the Mental Welfare Commission. Yesterday's programme publication commits to expanding the mental health workforce to take on an additional 10,000 cases.

Read more: RCN: Staff need to see light at the end of the tunnel; Move to 2-1 placements, staff urge; Emails show haste to publish recovery plan

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