46% of Scots NHS staff say they are overworked, says survey

ALMOST half of Scotland’s NHS workforce say they are unable to do their jobs properly because of a growing pressure on their time, an annual survey has found.

Almost half of Scottish NHS staff say they feel unable to do their jobs properly because of excessive demands on their time. Picture: Greg Macvean

Just 46 per cent of the 60,681 workers who completed the survey said they felt they could meet all the conflicting demands on their time at work.

The survey also found that only a third of NHS employees in Scotland feel that staffing is sufficient for them to do their job properly.

The annual NHS Scotland staff survey revealed that 33 per cent of all employees thought their department had enough staff, falling to 26 per cent for nurses and midwives and 12 per cent for ambulance personnel.

About a quarter (28 per cent) of all employees said they were always consulted about changes at work.

Despite this, 89 per cent of respondents said they were happy to go the extra mile in the workplace and 79 per cent of all staff said they felt they received the support they need from colleagues.

Scottish Labour public services spokesman Dr Richard Simpson, said the SNP government was presiding over “short term crisis management” in the NHS.

Dr Simpson, a former GP, said: “Now more than ever we need a health service free at the point of use based on clinical need, not the ability to pay. “Our NHS is our most valued public service and it needs to have the resources to deliver the care Scots need.

“Our NHS staff do incredible work every day but under the SNP government they are under valued and overworked. We hear stories about staff in tears and sick with stress at the new flagship hospital in Glasgow.

“After eight years in government and a majority in parliament there are no excuses for the SNP on our NHS. But what we have seen from the SNP is a tendency to squeeze health spending in Scotland harder than even the Tories in England, whilst failing to manage our NHS.

“It’s time we moved away from short term crisis management in our NHS to managing for the long term, building a health service fit for the challenges of the 2040s, not the 1940s.”

However, health Secretary Shona Robison said NHS staff numbers were at a record high, with increased student nursing and midwifery intakes, and £450,000 to be invested over the next three years in a scheme to encourage former nurses back into the profession.

She said: “It is welcome that staff remain committed to their roles, with almost nine out of ten willing to go the ‘extra mile’ at work.”