NHS nursing and midwife levels hit seven-year low

The number of nurses and midwives in the NHS is at its lowest for almost seven years, official figures revealed yesterday.

In Scotland, there were the equivalent of 56,184 full-time nursing and midwifery staff across Scotland at the end of June.

That is the lowest number there has been since September 2005 and is more than 2,000 less than September 2009 – when the number of full-time equivalent staff reached 58,428.

Part of the reason for the latest fall is that more than 100 nurses in the Highlands have become council employees as a result of plans to integrate health and social care in the area.

Across the country, a total of 153,427 people were working in the health service at the end of June – a fall of 939 from three months before.

At the same time, separate figures published by the Scottish Government showed the NHS was making progress towards the target of cutting the number of senior managers by 25 per cent by 2015.

In the past 12 months, 105 such posts have been shed, while the number of staff in the jobs is 
16 per cent lower than it was two years ago.

But opposition politicians hit out at health secretary Nicola Sturgeon over the fall in the number of nurses and midwives.

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “We cannot allow the number of nurses, midwives and hospital staff to continue to plummet while the demands on our NHS grow.”

The Conservatives’ deputy leader, Jackson Carlaw, said the health secretary had previously pledged there would be no cuts to frontline services as a result of efficiency sayings.

But Mr Carlaw, also the Tories’ health spokesman, said: “Health spending in Scotland is protected, so there is no excuse for the Scottish Government to aimlessly swing the axe at the nursing and midwifery headcount.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “There are more qualified nurses now than in September 2006 and there are substantially more qualified nurses and midwives per 1,000 population in Scotland than the rest of the UK, with 7.9 nurses and midwives compared to 
5.9 in England, 7.2 in Wales and 7.6 in Northern Ireland.

“The provision of NHS care is shifting to meet the needs of patients and we are supporting NHS boards to provide nursing in the community”

Ms Sturgeon pointed to the reduction in NHS management.She said: “The NHS has been set a demanding target by reducing senior management posts by 25 per cent, but this reflects policy on keeping a tight rein on the pay bill for the highest earners during these challenging economic times.

“These figures demonstrate excellent progress and our 
expectation is that this target will be met earlier than anticipated. This will contribute to more than £100 million a year in non-clinical savings, which will be reinvested in frontline services.”