New nurses struggling to find jobs

SCOTLAND – The Scottish Government faced calls to protect frontline services as unions warned newly qualified nurses and midwives are struggling to find jobs in the NHS.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland said health boards were using “unsustainable tactics” in a bid to save money – such as freezing posts and not replacing people who leave – resulting in a drop in job opportunities for newly-trained nurses.

The union warned that the cutbacks could have “devastating consequences” for patient care in the future.

In June, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that almost 4,000 NHS jobs, including more than 1,500 nursing and midwifery posts, will be axed this year.

She insisted patient care would not be affected by the cuts and said there would be no compulsory redundancies.

Associate director of RCN Scotland, Ellen Hudson, has voiced her concerns about the impact of any cuts on people trying to start a career in nursing.

She told Scotland: “To save money, many health boards are focusing on the nursing wages bill and are using unsustainable tactics, such as freezing posts, not replacing registered nurses when they leave or retire and converting vacant registered nurse posts to a lower grade so that they cost less. This has resulted in far fewer employment opportunities for newly qualified nurses.”

Ms Hudson also questioned whether a scheme which offers new nurses a one-year NHS job guarantee after they qualify would be able to continue in the current financial climate.

She added: “The nursing workforce in Scotland is ageing and we are losing the skills and experience of older nurses who are retiring. If we do not replace them with new registered nurses this could have devastating consequences for the future of patient care in Scotland.”

The Royal College of Midwives Scotland also spoke of similar concerns and suggested that there may soon be no jobs at all for newly-qualified midwives.


Source: Bearsden Herald