RCN Scotland is calling on Scottish government to publish a clear timetable for implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act ‘as a matter of urgency’.
The call is one of 10 recommendations in a new analysis of workforce statistics and challenges facing workforce planners, published today (29 March).
Other recommendations include calling for:
- The Scottish government to increase investment in health and care services to employ more nursing staff and achieve safe staffing levels.
- A commitment to continue to increase the number of nursing student places in line with workforce modelling rather than affordability.
The report RCN Scotland highlights how the record-high vacancy rate for nursing staff is a serious threat to maintaining high quality patient care.
It underlines just how urgently action is needed to repair the harms caused to the nursing workforce by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as years of chronic under-investment before the pandemic.