This call came in a briefing sent to all MSPs on 25 August, which also highlighted the need for a cultural shift within health and care settings.
Our briefing made clear that it is time for nursing to be recognised as an investment, rather than a cost because, too often, staffing decisions are based not on need, but on affordability. This is a false economy; the price of unsafe staffing is high and leads to staff burnout, lower job satisfaction, occupational injury and, ultimately, poorer patient outcomes.
Strengthening Scotland’s community nursing workforce is one of the best investments the Scottish government could make. There is widespread agreement about the urgent need to increase provision of services in the community and to focus on prevention and early intervention. But this has been talked about for years, and there is a persistent implementation gap between policy ambition and delivery on the ground.
Our briefing also stressed that any move to reform structures must first address existing cultural challenges in the NHS. The Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce recognised these challenges, using testimony from nurses, midwives and nursing support workers across Scotland to help shape their recommendations. This testimony, outlined in the final report of the Nursing and Midwifery Listening Project, revealed that bad behaviour is difficult to challenge and often left unaddressed.
The Taskforce set out 44 recommendations to address the ongoing nursing retention and recruitment crisis, targeted at improving the working environment and culture for nursing and midwifery staff and at making careers in the profession more attractive. Yet, almost two years later, implementation has barely gotten underway, and the Taskforce is yet to make any meaningful difference to nursing staff.
Colin Poolman, Executive Director, RCN Scotland, said:
“The system isn’t working, and the levels of demand we are seeing are only going to increase. Too often the focus is on initiatives and pilots while funding to core services, such as district nursing, fails to keep pace with demand.
“We know that listening to – and investing in – nursing is key to making the changes necessary to effectively shape and reform Scotland’s health and care services. The solution exists and has been laid out in the recommendations made by the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce. These recommendations are an opportunity to make real improvements for the nursing profession and patient care but, instead, there is a danger that this ends up being yet another report that gathers dust on a shelf in St Andrew’s House without making any impact.
“But before any meaningful reform can take place, Scottish government and health and care employers must address the cultural challenges, in order to meet recruitment and retention requirements and lead to a sustainable nursing workforce for the future.”
Read our full Programme for Government briefing here.
