NHS faces staff crisis as funding is slashed

GPs and nursing leaders warn of impact of cuts

SCOTLAND’S NHS is facing a devastating staff shortage as thousands of GP’s consider early retirement and nursing posts are slashed.

Nursing staff numbers have fallen to a four-low, leaving big shortfalls in wards across the country.

Yesterday, leaders of Scotland’s GPs and nurses told Holyrood’s powerful health committee of the growing pressures faced by the NHS.

MSPs were warned that the situation is likely to worsen, with spending on nurses and midwives set to fall by £13million over the next three years.

The cut, which was buried in the detail of John Swinney’s budget, will see funding for posts and training slashed, despite the fact that there are fewer frontline nurses treating patients than there were four years ago.

Rachel Cackett, of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said NHS boards had been making short-term savings by holding nursing vacancies open for months to save on salary costs.

She added: ‘The low-hanging fruit is gone and boards are having to be ever more creative to come up with the savings.’

Budget figures show a sharp drop in training funding over the next three years, f rom £148.9million in 2013/2014 to £135.8million by 2016.

But according to figures published in August, Scotland’s NHS employed the equivalent of 57,153 full-time nurses and midwives in June – 1,275 fewer than in September 2009.

As the health committee yesterday scrutinised the budget, Donald Harley, of the British Medical Association in Scotland, told members: ‘GPs have seen a very significant decrease in their net draw-ins in the last seven years, against a backdrop of practice costs rising inexorably.

‘They are bearing all these increases and being asked to do more and more. A third of that group are 55 and over, and looking at the exit door. If you keep squeezing, people will ultimately vote with their feet. We are looking at a crisis in manning in general practice.’

Labour health spokesman Neil Findlay said: ‘This is why we need an urgent review of the state of the health service.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Scotland currently has a record high for student nurses, with 10,662 in training. In addition, every newly-qualified nurse is guaranteed one year of employment once they complete their studies – a commitment not offered anywhere else in the UK.’