Hiring staff not the only way to help workforce

While it is great to see investment in the NHS, the fact existing staff are still feeling stressed and exhausted should be ringing alarm bells.

Bringing in 20% more staff during the pandemic is a good thing but if the current workers haven’t felt the benefit of that then bosses at NHS Grampian should be asking themselves why.

What the NHS has gone through over the last two years has been unprecedented and it was always going to have an impact on services.

As we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel, and the severity of cases decreases, it will be important for staff morale that NHS bosses are seen to be shifting focus to caring for their existing staff as well.

Despite the staffing increase, those at the coalface say they aren’t feeling the benefit.

The psychological toll of the pandemic on NHS workers will only become truly apparent in the years ahead, so we hope that future investment will be channelled towards improving things for staff.

Without that approach there’s a real danger the staffing situation could deteriorate as burned out staff leave in droves.