Hospitals across the country are being stretched to the limit (Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

NHS in Scotland 'dangerously understaffed' as health workers raise concerns 25,000 times

by · Daily Record

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The SNP Government has been warned the NHS in Scotland is "dangerously understaffed" after health workers were found to have raised concerns 25,000 times in five years.

Neil Gray, the Health Secretary, has been urged to get a grip on staffing levels as hospitals prepare for winter, when demand for services is often at its highest.

It comes as figures obtained by the Scottish Lib Dems found that 25,865 reports relating to short staffing were logged in the NHS Datix system since April 2018.

Datix is a risk management information system designed to collect and manage data on adverse events. NHS staff are encouraged to report incidents - including staffing issues - on the platform.

Each Datix report triggers an email to reviewers and approvers - normally senior charge nurses or lead nurses - for the area affected by the staffing issue.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Lib Dems leader, said the health service required "an urgent strategy to tackle burnout among staff."

He said: "These figures show that on wards across the country, NHS staff worry that they are dangerously understaffed.

"How can they possibly ensure patients are getting the best quality care when they are pushed to breaking point just to see everyone?

"The blame for this lies solely at the door of the SNP and their mismanagement of the health system. They have failed to give our hard-working NHS staff the beds, safe staffing and resources they desperately need.

"As we get closer to the winter months, it is vital that Neil Gray gets a handle on this. We need an urgent strategy to tackle burnout among staff and put their voices first as they tackle the crisis.

"He also needs to help people leave hospital on time through a new minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher. Unless we fix care services, we will never fix the NHS."

Gray has previously denied the NHS in Scotland is in crisis despite key targets - such as A&E department waiting times - repeatedly being not met.

The British Medical Association in Scotland has previously described the NHS as being in “permanent crisis”. And the Royal College of Nursing has warned of a "workforce crisis" north of the border.

Waiting times in Scots hospitals hit an all-time high earlier this year, while a third of people attending A&E are waiting more than four hours to be seen.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We expect everyone in Scotland to receive high quality safe care when they need it and for our NHS staff to be fully supported whilst delivering that care.

"The size of the NHS Scotland workforce has grown by 26 per cent since 2006 representing an increase of 33,000 whole time equivalent jobs.

Scottish politics

"We already spend more than £5 billion a year on social care including implementing Fair Work measures. We will prioritise supporting the workforce through our plans to continue paying the Real Living Wage to the sector in 2025, as set out in our Programme for Government."

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