NHS Highland nurses are exhausted but are being asked to cover extra shifts.
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Exhausted nursing staff are being put under pressure to give up their downtime to cover extra hours at Raigmore Hospital as the pandemic continues to take its toll. Staff at the region’s biggest hospital are being stretched, with rising Covid-19 cases placing further strain.
It prompted NHS Highland to take the unusual step of appealing on social media for nurses to give up their own time to return to work on Sunday and Monday.
Gillian Tait, RCN senior officer at NHS Highland, said: “The increase in Covid-related absence for staff in Raigmore is a significant concern.
“Nursing staff across NHS Highland are under pressure because of staff absences as well as patients being unable to be discharged and a rise in Covid hospital admissions.
“This latest plea from NHS Highland indicates just how challenging things have become.
“Nursing staff are exhausted and worn down by two years of relentless pressure, the health boards must do all they can to support the workforce and prevent nursing staff being spread more thinly.
“That support must include ensuring that staff working with Covid patients have access to the highest levels of PPE to reduce transmission.”
She added: “As well as Covid absences, NHS Highland is also struggling with near-record high nursing vacancies with nearly one in ten nursing posts unfilled.
“The Scottish Government needs to address the recruitment and retention of staff by funding a fair pay rise and implementing safe staffing legislation.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Highland said: “NHS Highland is currently seeing levels of Covid in the highest rates across Scotland, which is challenging for a board with such a large geographical footprint.
“We are utilising all available opportunities to support our colleagues in delivering safe and effective care to our patients and communities.
“We are taking all steps necessary to support the welfare and wellbeing of our staff during this time.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “With record vacancies across the country, I’m not surprised that our heroic nursing staff are exhausted and beyond breaking point.
“Working under such pressure and having to cover colleagues’ absences leads to burn-out and having to take time off to recover.”
Wilma Brown, chairwoman of Unison Scotland’s health committee, said the NHS was running on empty.
“Our nurses, porters, healthcare assistants and other NHS staff across Scotland’s health boards have been telling us of their growing anxiety around staffing shortages, and their concerns about the impact of lengthy treatment delays on patients.
“Employers are using desperate measures to cope with desperate times. These include chasing staff off sick to return early, directing those on wards to send patients home more quickly and asking exhausted employees to cancel annual leave, as well as taking on extra shifts too.
“The pandemic has shown what happens when too few staff try to do the jobs of many – we end up with a demoralised, overworked and exhausted workforce. The Scottish Government must act now, pay NHS staff the wages they deserve and do their utmost to solve this damaging crisis.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are immensely grateful for the incredible efforts of all of our NHS and social care staff over the course of the pandemic. Creating new posts is an essential part of workforce expansion. Some new vacancies are expected as we work to rapidly grow our workforce.”
