Nursing exodus shows SNP failing to manage
statistics from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that the SNP are failing to halt the number of nurses exiting the NHS.
The FOI shows that the bill for locum nurses in NHS Lothian increased by half in 12 months. In 2020-21 the cost was £5 million and in 2021-22 the cost rose to £7.5 million. In three years Ms Boyack says the cost has tripled fro the 2017-18 figure of £2.6 million. A single locum nurse shift costs the NHS £1,900 and payments to the Nursing Guild have totalled almost £11 million in 5 years to plug the gaps in staffing in the health body. Ms Boyack said: “This eyewatering bill to the public purse is the direct result of the SNP government’s failure to support Scotland’s nurses.
“With Scotland’s nurses forced to strike, Humza Yousaf must wake up to the problem and get around the table with the RCN and other unions.”