The latest NHS Scotland workforce statistics, published 2 June, show that gaps in the nursing and midwifery workforce across NHS Scotland are leading to continued reliance on supplementary staffing, with the cost of bank staffing increasing by £37.6m compared to last year.
A challenging mix of a failure to fill the gaps in the nursing workforce and increasing patient need are leaving staff struggling to keep people safe, as a quarter say registered nurse numbers are so far below what is required that there is now a high risk of harm on shift.
In our fifth ‘The Nursing Workforce in Scotland’ report, we highlight that nursing staff have seen little meaningful improvement to health and care services, whether in the NHS or independent sector, including on fixing the workforce crisis. While the nursing workforce has grown, the gap between planned and actual staffing remains, with little adjustment to account for the continued increases in demand for services.
Nursing absence rates in Scotland’s NHS are hitting critical levels and current workforce planning provisions are increasingly inadequate to deal with the gaps in the workforce.
The 215 (Scottish) Multirole Medical Regiment nursing team with the Royal Army Medical Service was announced as the 2026 Nursing Team of the Year at the grand RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards ceremony tonight (30 April 2026).
Lynn Melville, a Health Care Support Worker with the Airdrie Health Visiting Team in NHS Lanarkshire, was announced as the 2026 Nursing Support Worker of the Year at the grand RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards ceremony tonight (30 April 2026).
