The Gloves are Off for nursing staff because five years on from the last Scottish parliament elections, nursing staff have seen no meaningful improvement to health and care services, whether in the NHS or independent sector. 

Scotland cannot build the sustainable nursing workforce it urgently needs by asking staff to continue to work under relentless pressure while feeling demoralised and undervalued. 

So, ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, our message is simple - the gloves are off, nursing is ready to be heard.

Let’s all get involved and ensure politicians from all parties recognise that it's time to value nursing properly - because Scotland’s health depends on it.

Discover what we're calling for in our manifesto

 Take action today

Watch our election hustings

As part of our The Gloves are Off campaign, we organised a hustings with representatives from the main political parties.

This was an opportunity for members to tell politicians about their experiences of working during these extremely challenging times and to highlight the changes that are needed to start to value nursing properly. As well as sharing experiences and thoughts, members were able to ask politicians about their party’s priorities to address these issues.