RCN survey finds a third of Scottish nurses want to quit
ORE than a third of all Scottish nurses are looking to leave the profession, a new survey has warned.
The poll of nursing staff by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will make grim reading for ministers, and with money at the heart of much of that unhappiness, it will add pressure to Finance Secretary Derek Mackey to find money to hike public sector salaries when he delivers his draft budget on Thursday.
With wages stagnating and prices rising, around 38 per cent of nurses say they wouldn’t recommend the profession – despite most finding it “rewarding”.
RCN Scotland say nursing staff across all sectors and grades are now facing financial difficulties with three-quarters saying they feel worse off now than five years ago.
Four in 10 say money worries are making them lose sleep. Thirty-six per cent of nurses say they are looking for a new job, while 65 per cent say their job band or grade is inappropriate for the work they do, feeling that it no longer matches the responsibilities or intensity of their role.
Sixty-one per cent said they were too busy to provide the level of care they would like.
Theresa Fyffe, director of RCN Scotland, said: “Given the prolonged pay freeze and soaring nursing vacancies left unfilled it is no surprise that our survey highlights that the morale of nurses and health care support workers in our NHS is plummeting.
“For too long the concerns of Scotland’s nursing teams have been ignored, and nurses have been suggesting they don’t have the resources to fulfil their jobs properly.
“The Scottish Government must fulfil its commitment to raise living standards and aid recruitment by confirming an above-inflation pay award for hard-pressed nursing staff in the budget.
“It shouldn’t be the case that nurses and health care support workers are taking on a second job, or leaving a job that they love because they are struggling to make ends meet.
“The survey’s findings should fire a warning shot across the bows, for the Scottish Government our nursing workforce is at breaking point. The Scottish Government has the opportunity to ensure nursing staff receive the pay they deserve and to address the workload challenges with its proposed safe staffing legislation, safeguarding nursing in Scotland for generations to come.
“Nursing teams on the frontline have spoken out; it is now up to those in positions of power to listen and to act fast.”
Around 800 Scottish nursing staff were polled in June and July as part of a UK-wide survey, which, the RCN say, will be used to feed into public pay sector review board negotiations.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Anas Sarwar said: “This survey is utterly damning and confirms what Labour has been saying for some time – Scotland’s nurses are underpaid and undervalued under the SNP.
“Almost three-quarters of Scotland’s nurses feeling worse off is an absolutely damning indictment of the SNP’s pay policy. Over 60 per cent feel they are too busy to provide the level of care they would like.
“These figures should be setting off alarm bells ahead of the Scottish budget. We cannot expect our NHS to deliver the care Scots deserve if staff don’t get the support they need.”
Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said the results of the survey exposed “the challenges faced by hard-working NHS staff”.
The Tory MSP said: “The SNP is in sole charge of health, and has been for more than a decade.
“It can’t blame anyone else for this situation, and should set out how it’s going to make life better for Scotland’s over-stretched nurses.”
