Fix our ailing NHS

A DEFINING characteristic of the pandemic has been how nurses have risen to the challenge. They have gone above and beyond because they had to and because the sort of professionals who enter this vocation are driven by an uncommon sense of duty and service to others.

It is therefore unsurprising to learn that some have been willing to go on the front line as healthcare support workers before they are even fully registered.

Admirable though their dedication is, the fact that hospitals are having to rely on unregistered nurses is a stark symbol of the severe staffing problems facing the health service.

As Labour’s health spokesman Jackie Baillie observes, these problems pre-date the pandemic and reflect Nicola Sturgeon’s mismanagement of the NHS, both as Health Secretary and First Minister.

Patients and staff have had enough of warm words. They want to know what the First Minister is going to do to solve the problems and when she’s going to do it.

The urgency is underscored by figures showing that almost 2,000 Scottish children have been waiting more than a year for mental health treatment. Mental health is another area where ministers cannot play the pandemic card: their record was severely lacking long before Covid-19.

The same is true for cervical cancer. The Scottish Government is launching a campaign to encourage women to get tested after screening rates dropped 45 per cent in 2020. This move is welcome news but there is another imperative: restoring faith in the process after ministers admitted 200,000 women were excluded from screening. Three women are believed to have died as a result.

Scotland’s entire health service needs to be made fit for purpose and it is ministers’ responsibility to get a grip – and quickly.