NHS staff sick of being undervalued
THE experts at the independent watchdog Audit Scotland carry out invaluable work.
They have published some damning reports in their time, often leading to changes in the way public services are run.
Last week, Audit Scotland released one of the most scathing reports I can remember, exposing the SNP’s mismanagement of our NHS.
The report detailed the SNP staffing crisis in our health service, which began under Nicola Sturgeon when she was health secretary.
The Nationalists have presided over a workforce crisis in our NHS, leaving staff overworked, undervalued and under-resourced.
Staff morale is at rock bottom, with workers reporting there simply aren’t enough of them to do the job properly.
Labour recently published research that found private agency spend has increased six-fold in the last five years and that nearly 20 NHS services are under threat because of staff shortages. The underfunding of GPs means one in three practices is reporting a vacancy.
This is why our health service is in desperate need of a meaningful workforce plan.
My colleague Anas Sarwar has established a commission that will bring together professionals from across the NHS to do just that. Once again, it’s Labour doing the SNP’s job for them.