NHS now has additional staff as number up 13%

MSP Alex Neil this week praised new figures that show over the past ten years the number of staff working in NHS Lanarkshire has risen by 13.2 per cent.

At the end of 2016, there was over 10,590 staff working in NHS Lanarkshire and an overall headcount of 162,302 staff across NHS Scotland, with nearly 1,000 of these staff recruited in the last year. In the same year, health spending per head was 7.2 per cent higher in Scotland compared to England, where the health service has been described by the Red Cross as facing a“humanitarian crisis”.

Mr Neil said:“Ten years of SNP Government has produced 12,200 more staff working in our NHS in Scotland and there’s been a 13.2 per cent increase in health service staff in NHS Lanarkshire in that time.

“While health spending in Scotland is expected to rise to over £13 billion in 2017-18 – the NHS in England was described by the Red Cross as facing a humanitarian crisis and hundreds of thousands of protesters are marching against cut backs of up to two-thirds to health services across England.

“With demand on our NHS rising, the SNP is committed to ensuring our workforce is fit for the future and equipped for the challenges ahead. While the UK Government scrapped the nurse student bursary, we retained it in Scotland and created a £1 million fund for nursing and midwifery students facing financial struggles at the same time.

“We are seeing real progress in Scotland’s NHS, and the SNP will never stop working to ensure that people in Scotland enjoy the first-rate health service they deserve.”